Chips Act formally in force from this autumn: 90 billion euros of investments in Europe already announced

Chips Act formally in force from this autumn: 90 billion euros of investments in Europe already announced

The European Chips Act will strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty, competitiveness and resilience and contribute to the digital and green transitions.
Chips, also known as semiconductors, they are the constituent element of all electronic products. They play a central role in our modern economies and our daily lives. Chips are the basis of digital transformation and are essential across industries, such as automotive, communications, data processing, space, defense, smart devices, and gaming, to name a few.

The recent global chip shortage has disrupted supply chains, caused shortages of products ranging from cars to medical devices and in some cases even forced factories to close.

The European Chips Act, after reaching a political agreement on April 18, 2023, aims to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem. It is composed of a communication that illustrates the European strategy and the logic behind the Chips Act, a proposal for a regulation and a recommendation to the Member States.
The European Chips Act will strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem in the EU, ensure the resilience of supply chains and reduce external dependencies. It is a fundamental step for the technological sovereignty of the EU. Furthermore, it will ensure that Europe reaches its Digital Decade goal of doubling its global market share in semiconductors to 20%.

It will do this by focusing on 5 strategic objectives:
1. strengthen research and technological leadership;
2. Develop and strengthen Europe's capacity to innovate in the design, manufacturing and packaging of advanced chips;
3. put in place an appropriate framework to increase production by 2030;
4. address skills shortages and attract new talent;
5. Develop an in-depth understanding of global semiconductor supply chains.

The Chips for Europe initiative will strengthen semiconductor technologies and innovation capabilities, ensuring EU leadership in this sector in the medium and long term. It will be implemented mainly through the Chips Joint Undertaking, previously known as the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking.
The Chip Law proposes a new framework to ensure the security of supply of chips by attracting investments and supporting the creation of large-scale manufacturing capabilities.
The framework enables public support for two new types of innovative manufacturing facilities that are the first of their kind.

“The Chips Act will only formally come into force this autumn, but it is already generating extraordinary momentum: since we proposed it in February last year, more than 90 billion euros of industrial investments have already been announced in Europe.” This was stated by the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, visiting the Imec headquarters in Leuven.
The financing announced, he underlined, concerns for example “12 billion in Poland, 30 billion euros for two factories in Magdeburg, but we also see investments in Dublin, Catania, Grenoble and Dresden”.