Chips – Image © Andrew Barker – Fotolia
(STRASBOURG) – The EU Council and Parliament reached provisional political agreement Tuesday on a regulation to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem, better known as the ‘Chips Act’.
The deal is expected to create the conditions for the development of an industrial base that can double the EU’s global market share in semiconductors from 10% to at least 20% by 2030.
“The Chips act puts Europe in the first line of cutting-edge technologies which are essential for our green and digital transitions,” said Swedish business minister Ebba Busch, for the EU presidency.
The compromise reached on the ‘Chips for Europe Initiative’ reinforces the competences of the Chips Joint Undertaking which will be responsible for the selection of the centres of excellence, as part of its work programme.
On the framework to ensure security of supply and resilience by attracting investment, the final compromise widens the scope of the so called ‘First-of-a-kind’ facilities to include those producing equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing. ‘First-of-a-kind’ facilities contribute to the security of supply for the internal market and can benefit from fast-tracking of permit granting procedures. In addition, design centres that significantly enhance the Union’s capabilities in innovative chip design may receive a European label of ‘design centre of excellence’ which will be granted by the Commission. Member states may apply support measures for design centres that receive this label according to existing legislation.
A new semiconductor objective is created within the Digital Europe Programme which will support capacity building in the Chips-sector and funds are also mobilised within the research framework Horizon Europe, amounting to a total of 3.3 billion for the ‘Chips for Europe Initiative’. The financing solution was found within the limits of the existing interinstitutional agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework and comes on top of resources already allocated to similar objectives within the MFF and through the digital strand in the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The provisional agreement reached today between the Council and the European Parliament needs to be finalised, endorsed, and formally adopted by both institutions.
