Empowering Europe’s semiconductor future

Think about all the electronics you use every day—your phone, your laptop, your car’s navigation system. Each one of them depends on small, complex computer chips to run. Also known as a semiconductor, a chip is a tiny piece of silicon packed with millions or even billions of microscopic circuits and transistors.

These circuits process data, control functions, and carry out commands within electronic devices, making chips the ‘brains’ of every system. When a device sends a signal, electrical currents flow through these elements, which allows the chip to perform tasks—whether it’s loading an app, calculating GPS routes, or controlling a car’s braking system. Advances in chip technology mean that, year after year, chips get smaller, faster, and more efficient, allowing our devices to do more with less energy.

However, producing these technologies is complex and requires sophisticated manufacturing plants, specialized materials, and a highly skilled workforce. Since late 2020, there has been an unprecedented shortage of semiconductors, due to some recent developments such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine, which have disrupted industries around the globe. Europe felt this impact hard, exposing just how dependent we have become on a few major suppliers outside the continent.

On average, nearly 80% of suppliers to European firms operating in the semiconductor industry are headquartered outside the EU. To overcome this situation and to secure Europe’s place in the high-tech landscape and reduce reliance on non-EU suppliers, the European Union launched the Chips Act in 2023—a bold strategy aimed at building up the continent’s semiconductor industry. With a total investment goal of €43 billion, the Chips Act sets out to create a reliable supply chain for semiconductors, boost research and innovation, and support the development of cutting-edge chip manufacturing in Europe.

The Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) is a key part of this vision, designed to bridge the gap between research, production, and commercial use of semiconductor technology. With a planned €15.8 billion investment, the EU wants to bring chip production closer to home, making Europe more resilient and innovative in today’s tech-driven world.

What has been done?

One year after its birth, which has been marked by some uncertainty both in the content of the work programmes and in the application processes for the submission of proposals, the first results have been released. Building on the structure of its predecessor Key Digital Technologies (KDT JU), Chips JU began its adventure with the launch of four calls related to the operational objectives of the “Chips for Europe Initiative”, the first pillar of the European Chips Act. This initiative aimed to enhance technological capacity building and foster innovation in cutting-edge chip technology on a substantial scale.

The Chips JU plays a pivotal role in facilitating a significant part of this investment, ensuring its success and impact across the continent. A significant pilot line call in late 2023 allocated €1.67 billion in EU funding, aimed at bridging research and commercialization, with contributions from member states and private investors boosting the total to €3.3 billion. These calls included pilot projects for innovative production lines with a focus on areas like Fully Depleted Silicon on Insulator, sub-2nm nodes, and Wide Bandgap semiconductors. More information about the selected projects can be found here.

2024 has been the year when the Chips JU came of age. During this period, numerous opportunities have been opened in the form of calls for proposals, addressing areas like sustainable manufacturing and neuromorphic computing (with specific international collaborations such as with South Korea), quantum technologies or the automotive sector.

Beyond individual projects, the Joint Undertaking established a cloud-based Design Platform to streamline the design and prototyping processes for electronic components and systems, reducing costs and barriers to entry for industry players, including SMEs and start-ups. Competence Centers have been also promoted to provide technical expertise and skills development, facilitate the transfer of knowledge from research to industry, and access to pilot lines and design platforms to innovators.

What’s next for us?

After a year full of novelties, we were looking forward to seeing what the next year would bring. The publication of the draft ECS-SRIA 2025 already gave us a hint of where things might be heading: sustainability as a driving force to reduce energy consumption and adopt eco-friendly materials in the semiconductors industry; the integration of emerging technologies such as AI at the edge, neuromorphic computing, and quantum technologies; technological sovereignty to mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities; and the exploration of next-generation wireless communication and security-by-design for advanced manufacturing and system integration are key priorities towards which the sector should be directed.

At the recent European Electronic Components and Systems Forum 2024, some exciting updates were shared about the next steps for Europe’s semiconductor strategy. While the 2025 work programme hasn’t been finalized yet—and specific budgets are still under discussion—there’s already a glimpse of what’s to come. The 2025 calls will be split into two main streams: Chips JU calls, aimed at strengthening Europe’s technological capacity and developing advanced pilot lines and large-scale semiconductor infrastructure; and ECS calls, focusing on research and innovation (RIAs and IAs) in electronic components and systems.

Note on the calendar: 4 February 2025 (date not yet confirmed): information day for innovators and organisations to position themselves as leaders in Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem.