(STRASBOURG) – The European Parliament gave the green light Tuesday to plans to secure the EU’s supply of chips by boosting production and innovation, and establishing emergency measures against shortages.
The new law, already agreed upon between Parliament and Council, aims to create a favourable environment for chip investments in Europe, by fast tracking permitting procedures and recognising their critical importance via a so-called “highest national significance statute”. Small and medium-sized businesses will also benefit from increased support, especially in the area of chip design, in order to boost innovation.
The legislation will support projects that boost the EU’s security of supply by attracting investment and building up production capacity. During the talks with the representatives of the Council, MEPs secured 3.3 billion for research and innovation related to chips. A network of competence centres will be created to address the EU’s skills shortage and attract new talent for research, design and production.
A crisis response mechanism is to be set up, through which the Commission will assess the risks to the EU’s supply of semiconductors. Early warning indicators in member states will be used to trigger an EU-wide shortage alert.
This mechanism will allow the Commission to implement emergency measures such as prioritising the supply of products particularly affected by a shortage, or carrying out common purchasing for member states. MEPs further improved the scheme by introducing a mapping tool that will help identify possible supply bottlenecks. These measures will be a last resort in the event of a crisis in the semiconductors sector.
MEPs also gave their backing to provisions to strengthen international cooperation with strategic partners and on intellectual property rights, to guarantee competitive advantages and protection for the EU sector.
The legislation now needs to be endorsed by the EU’s Council of ministers in order to become law.
Further information, European Parliament
