Faced with the shortage of electronic chips, the EU wants to quadruple its production by 2030

With the increasing digitization of activities, the global economy has been experiencing a shortage of semiconductors for many months. In this context, the European Commission is preparing to unveil its plan to quadruple European production of electronic chips by 2030. “A major initiative for our industry and crucial from a geopolitical point of view”, according to the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, speaking on Saturday January 29 in an interview with several European newspapers, including Les Echos (article for subscribers).

“We want to reach 20% of world production by 2030, knowing that the market should double by then to reach a trillion dollars. It is therefore a question for Europe of multiplying by four our own production”, he says.

While the shortage penalizes many industries around the world, such as the automotive industry, the semiconductor industry is almost entirely concentrated in the hands of a few companies based abroad. Taiwanese TSMC alone concentrates 70% of world production.

Financed in part by European funds, this project will take the form of a “Chips Act”, which the Commission is about to propose in order to establish a “new framework to facilitate State aid for the production of semiconductors”, according to the commissioner. Furthermore, “to support innovation and the production of next-generation chips – the market of the future – Europe will be there”, assures Thierry Breton, who intends to make the EU the “leader on the next generations of chips under five nanometers. Even under two nanometers”.