Groundbreaking Chip Sovereignty: Europe’s Strategic Push in the Semiconductor Race
The EU Chips Act’s enactment in September 2023 marks a major policy shift that revitalizes industrial policy in Europe. By allowing state subsidies for semiconductor projects, it has the potential to secure Europe’s supply chain security and technological autonomy in an industry dominated by the US and East Asia.
European Union leaders have vacillated between (1) whether to incentivize foreign firms at the cost of subsidizing European champions and (2) whether to bolster existing strengths in mainstream chip production or attract cutting-edge technologies. Policymakers should focus Chips Act funds on domestic firms to catalyze long-standing vertically integrated European value chains in mainstream chip technology.
The EU Chips Act is only the first step toward technological autonomy. Europe needs broader regulatory and tax reforms to create a conducive environment to help innovators create startups and for these startups to scale. These reforms are crucial to addressing the unique funding gaps that European startups face.
This memo lays out what challenges Europe faces in computing, how disciplined implementation of the Chips Act can bolster the continent’s existing strengths, and what further policy reforms could make the EU indispensable in broader swaths of the future chip industry. EU leaders must be honest with what the bloc’s current levels of public funding can reasonably expect to achieve.
If Europe is to build resilient supply chains and increase its technological autonomy vis-à-vis China and the US, the EU Chips Act must catalyze the continent’s domestic virtuous cycle of upstream chip innovation and downstream chip implementation. Beyond targeted support for Europe’s vertically integrated technology ecosystem, broader regulatory and tax reform must follow the Chips Act to create an environment fertile for growing more European champions.
Available in:
Regions and themes
ISBN / ISSN
Share
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
Groundbreaking Chip Sovereignty: Europe’s Strategic Push in the Semiconductor Race
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programsFind out more
Discover all our analysesChina’s Mature Node Overcapacity: Unfounded Fears
China is decoupling from, not flooding, the global mature-node semiconductor market. As China increasingly pursues industrial policies encouraging domestic chip production, its own growing chip demand will prevent a direct flood of cheap Chinese chips on foreign shores. However, as Beijing achieves its goal of decreasing the reliance of domestic downstream manufacturers on foreign chips, European and American mature-node semiconductor companies will feel the ripple effects of an increasingly “involuted” Chinese chip ecosystem.
Sat-to-Cell: Towards Universal Connectivity?
Sat-to-Cell is a new type of service that connects smartphones directly to satellites. It has recently enabled innovative applications such as emergency text messaging via satellite. The technology is developing rapidly, and many questions are now being raised about its potential impact.
From Ukraine to Gaza: Military Uses of Artificial Intelligence
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza show us the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) has become integral to battlefield operations.
Artificial Intelligence, or The Race for Power
Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, and its use is spreading at a rate that is difficult to comprehend.