Toby Starling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Europe’s main computer chip industry association, ESIA, on Monday called on the European Union to speed up support, draw up a revised “Chip Act 2.0” aid package and appoint a special envoy to advocate for the sector.
In a statement, the group said semiconductor policy under the new European Commission should reduce export restrictions and focus on areas where European companies already have an advantage, and support should be delivered more quickly.
“A dedicated ‘special envoy for chips’ is needed to oversee overall industrial policy efforts on semiconductors,” the report said.
The group, which represents chipmakers Infineon, STMicroelectronics and NXP, major equipment maker ASML, and research institutes imec, Fraunhofer and CEA-Leti, said the EU should roll out an “Instant Chip Act 2.0”.
The first EU chip law, which came into force in April 2023, was supposed to be a €43 billion subsidy plan aimed at increasing Europe’s share of the global chip market to 20% by 2030.
A recent critical review by German think tank Interface found that Europe may not be on track to meet the targets set by the European Commission’s industry chief Thierry Breton, and that the first chip law has focused policymakers’ attention on the industry, even though it has not accounted for 15% of the global market over the past 40 years.
Major projects under the first semiconductor law include Taiwan’s TSMC’s 10 billion euro ($11 billion) factory that broke ground in Dresden last month and Intel’s planned 30 billion euro project in Magdeburg, Germany.
However, Inter’s financial difficulties have meant that the Magdeburg project has yet to receive EU aid approval and has been delayed, casting doubt on whether it will ever be built.
Regarding export policies, ESIA said it recognised the need to protect technology and ensure security.
But “a more proactive approach to economic security based on support and incentives is needed, rather than a defensive approach that relies on restrictive and protective measures,” the report said.
ASML was banned from shipping the top half of its product lineup to Chinese customers after the European Union and the Netherlands joined U.S.-led restrictions aimed at slowing China’s technological and military advances.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Shoof said on Friday that the Dutch government would take into account ASML’s economic interests when further tightening rules restricting exports to China.
(1 dollar = 0.9040 euros)
(Reporting by Toby Stirling; Editing by Alex Richardson and Andrew Heavens)
