Despite the fact that European research is essential for the production of sophisticated chips, the EU Commissioner claimed that the continent does not have enough ability to lead the industry.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner, stated last week in a keynote address to semiconductor businesses that Europe must produce its very own advanced chips or are at risk of having to construct traditional chips.
Speaking at the annual conference organized by the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center in Antwerp, Breton urged Europe to reject any attempt of geographic division where Europe is to produce mature nodes, whilst Asia and the United States would develop advanced nodes.
He went on to remark that Europe are unable to and would not be treated as a bystander in the chip manufacturing industry, adding that he expects a Europe that understands how to take the lead in semiconductors.
Breton stated that to be industrially significant, one has to establish factories and make products in Europe, saying that new projects have been proposed by STMicroelectronics, Infineon, Global Foundries, and Intel as an outcome of the recent approval of the Chips Act by European Union.
With the agreement of the Chips Act, Breton declared that they are sending out a strong signal to everyone, in Europe and also all over the world, that Europe remains open for this industry.
In order to expand the continent's capacity for semiconductor manufacturing, the the European Parliament and European Council agreed to invest a total of $3.6 billion in European Union funds in April. This was done in the hopes of luring in an additional $43.7 billion from private investment.
The chip trade battle is still raging
The Chips Act of the European Union is considered as a reaction to similar initiatives to promote semiconductor manufacture in the United States, China, South Korea, and Japan.
Breton's remarks coincide with a period when geopolitical unrest is continuing to interrupt the worldwide chip market, prompting businesses to search for ways to strengthen the safety and stability of the supply chain for semiconductors. Nevertheless, the plan maintains a lower level of assistance than is provided by both the United States and also Chinese governments.
Both Joe Biden's and Donald Trump's presidential administrations established laws prohibiting the application of Chinese-made hardware components in US networking and implemented export limits on US technology for computing, most recently including limitations on chips as well as chip-making machinery. These actions were justified by trade and safety concerns. The United States has also exerted forces on its partner nations to implement comparable limitations.