1.3 EU Ships Act Drives Pan-European Full-Stack Innovation Partnerships

In every aspect of our life and society, semiconductors play a major role and that impact is set to increase even further. The pandemic in conjunction with supply chain hiccups and geopolitical tensions made all regions realize that they need to revisit their position and potential in the semiconductor value chain. The European Commission expressed [1] the ambition of achieving a 20% share of global semiconductor production by 2030. This is roughly a ‘times four’ increase with respect to the situation today. To achieve that, a plan is proposed that invests in research and development, promotes larger incentives for manufacturing, and indicates measures for a more stable supply chain. Worldwide ambitious investments are planned for semiconductor R&D and manufacturing. Europe should leverage its existing strengths (see Figure 1.3.1) such as its unique position of certain materials and equipment companies (ASML, SOITEC, ASM-l, and so on), leadership positions in R&D on the industrial300mm wafer standard (imec, CEAlLeti, Fraunhofer), and existing ecosystems for chip manufacturing embracing mature nodes and specialties, as well as partnerships for advanced semiconductor fabrication. The high-quality educational system and the presence of strong OEMs, such as automotive companies, are key assets to drive the demand. The openness to partnerships in all layers of the value chain and at all levels of technology maturity will be essential for success, given the very strong position of other regions in certain domains (EDA, leading-edge node chip manufacturing, packaging, memory).