Members' Research Service By / July 15, 2022

The EU chips act: Securing Europe’s supply of semiconductors [EU Legislation in Progress]

‘The birth date of the integrated circuit [a.k.a. chip] is one of the most important birth dates in the history of technology’. Prof. T. Claeson, presentation speech for the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.

© ty_cgi_stock / Adobe Stock

Written by Guillaume Ragonnaud (2nd edition).

Semiconductors (or chips) are the drivers of the digital transition. Their production relies on complex and vulnerable global supply chains. Against the backdrop of global chip shortages, a global ‘subsidy race’ in the world’s main producing regions, and a renewed EU industrial policy, in February 2022 the Commission presented a proposal for an EU chips act aimed at reinforcing the whole EU chips value chain.

The chips act is based on a three-pillar structure: pillar 1 to bolster large-scale technological capacity building and innovation in the EU chips ecosystem; pillar 2 to improve the EU’s security of supply; and pillar 3 to set up a monitoring and crisis response mechanism. In the event of supply crises, the Commission would be allowed to implement three types of emergency measures: ask companies for information, ask companies to accept and prioritise orders of crisis-relevant products, and make shared purchases on behalf of Member States.

The proposal is now with the co-legislators. In the European Parliament, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is responsible for the file. The draft report was presented and discussed during the ITRE meeting on 13 October 2022. ITRE MEPs tabled a total of 804 amendments to the Commission proposal. The final vote on the report is expected to take place early in 2023.

Versions

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem (Chips Act)
Committee responsible:Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE)COM(2022) 46
8.2.2022
Rapporteur:Dan Nica (S&D, Romania)2022/0032(COD)
Shadow rapporteurs:Eva Maydell (EPP, Bulgaria)
Bart Groothuis (Renew, the Netherlands)
Henrike Hahn (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Joëlle Mélin (ID, France)
Jessica Stegrud (ECR, Sweden)
Marc Botenga (The Left, Belgium)
Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)
Next steps expected: Committee vote on draft report
EU Legislation in progress timeline

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