European Chips Act
02INTRODUCTION
The proposal for an EU Chips Act was presented by the Commission to build on Europe's strengths and address outstanding weaknesses in the semiconductor sector. Chips are strategic assets for key industrial value chains. With the digital transformation, new markets for the chip industry are emerging such as highly automated cars, cloud, IoT, connectivity (5G/6G), space/defence, computing capacities and supercomputers. Semiconductors are also at the centre of strong geopolitical interests, conditioning countries capacity to act (militarily, economically, industrially) and drive digital.
The proposal for a EU Chips Act aims at bringing about a thriving from research to production and a resilient supply chain. The Commission plans to mobilise more than €43 billion euros of public and private investments and set measures to prevent, prepare, anticipate and swiftly respond to any future supply chains disruption, together with Member States and international partners.
As a next step, the Member States and European Parliament will discuss the Commission's proposals on a European Chips Act in the ordinary legislative procedure. If adopted, the Regulation will be directly applicable across the EU. Member States are encouraged to immediately start coordination efforts in line with the Recommendation to understand the current status state of the semiconductor value chain across the EU, to anticipate potential disturbances and take corrective measures to overcome the current shortage until the Regulation is adopted.