The presentation of the new Industrial Acceleration Law to boost production on the continent had a significant absence among strategic segments: semiconductors, expressly excluded.
"The list of strategic sectors to be covered by this chapter of critical sectors for the economic security of the Union includes zero-emission technologies (...), nuclear fuels, electric propulsion technologies for transportation and excludes digital technologies, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and semiconductors," points out the legislative text itself, which excludes this technology at a time of acceleration in the sector due to artificial intelligence.
Europe set a goal in 2023 to manufacture 20% of the world's chips by 2030, however, according to the latest data from Semi, the European industry association, Europe barely produces 7.4% of global sales.
"Europe has a problem with these laws. They should be cross-cutting and applicable to any sector. Not approving one law for heavy industry and another for chips," says Emilio García, a semiconductor expert and co-author of the book Chips and Power, in statements to the world. García emphasizes that the approach will also reinforce the agenda to avoid the overregulation that the current commission claims to want to impose.
Companies and associations are precisely demanding mechanisms like those that the Commission wants to approve with this law: faster assistance, protection for technologies developed in Europe, and against foreign investments. For example, the main conflict in the supply chain in recent months has been between the Netherlands and China over the chip company Nexperia.
Industry sources attribute the exclusion of chips from the legislative project to the division of responsibilities. The project is driven by Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice President for Internal Market of the commission, while chips fall under the responsibility of Henna Virkkunen, Vice President and Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty.
In fact, Virkkunen's department is working on a Chips 2.0 law that will add a new bureaucratic layer to the sector in the hope of correcting the inefficiencies of the previous project. In a report presented a few weeks ago by the Alternativas Foundation, García already delved into one of these inefficiencies, which was the existence of double requirements to justify, for example, sector aid, one from the Chip Law itself and another from other areas such as Competition.
The implementation of the law has even been criticized by European auditors, who saw it as unlikely to achieve its objectives set for the end of the decade. This is evidenced by the failure of national projects as well, such as the freezing of Intel's projects in Germany or the drastic reduction in ambition of the Spanish Chip Perte.
At the national level, Spain has until the end of August to spend European funds, and the industry is calling for a final push for the country to play a prominent role in the next Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) for advanced technologies.
In a report obtained by EL MUNDO, the Spanish Association of the Semiconductor Industry (Aesemi) proposes to the Government to invest a minimum of 825 million euros to ensure a relevant role in three flagship projects related to the defense sector, another with automotive and enabling technologies, such as chip design, photonics, or advanced sensing, fields in which Spain is becoming one of the leading European countries and are key to achieving the desired strategic autonomy. In parallel, the association also demands new flexibility mechanisms for SMEs to access these aids.