The European Chips Act, a legislative package aimed at improving the autonomy of the European Union in the semiconductor sector, has been present this February 8. This is one of the promises made by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her State of the Union address in September for a “Europe fit for the digital age”.
The race for semiconductors: after the United States, the turn of the EU
The quantified objective of this draft Commission regulation has been known for almost a year, to double the market share of the Old Continent in semiconductors. Currently around 10%, it must increase to 20% by 2030, it was 40% in 1990. To fulfill this mission: 43 billion euros in public and private funding. It is the European equivalent to the 52 billion dollar (45 billion euro) project in the United States.
Today the majority of chips are made in Asia. The current shortage in the semiconductor industry has demonstrated to Europe its importance in achieving a hypothetical “European digital sovereignty”.
United States: the hefty bill for replacing Huawei and ZTE
The Commission notes that ” This situation has highlighted the extreme dependence, on a global scale, of the semiconductor value chain on a very limited number of players in a complex geopolitical context. “.
Computer, smartphone, automobile, connected objects, semiconductors are already ubiquitous in a largely digitized world. As Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market, acknowledges, “ Without electronic chips, no digital transition, no ecological transition, no technological advance “. Europe will not succeed in becoming self-sufficient in the field of semiconductors, it would take at least three times the investment to achieve this, according to the very admission of Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe adapted to the era. digital. The challenge is to limit damage.
To catch up on the continent, the Commission’s plan provides 11 billion euros in funding for research into innovative chips. They will be regulated mainly by the Union and the Member States and will, depending on The worldto implement three prototype production lines, in Belgium, France and Germany.
Subsidies from Member States to finance it from European semiconductor companies will be facilitated. The leaders of the sector, the Taiwanese TSMC, the American Intel, the Korean Samsung, will also be able to take the opportunity to build these vast factories worth several billion dollars on European territory.
The Commission’s proposal will not please everyone
This is one of the slippery proposals of the European Chips Act, the creation of a mechanism ” to monitor semiconductor supply, estimate demand and anticipate shortages “. It could be used to limit exports outside Europe in times of crisis.
This last point raises some reservations in several European countries according to The world. Germany, the Netherlands or the Nordic countries reluctant to take protectionist measures and fearing American anger could harshly negotiate certain proposals in this legislative package. Small EU countries fearing not to benefit from the announced investments could also express reluctance. Negotiations in Parliament and between member countries promise to be lively, despite a text with a rather consensual ambition.