EU announces 300 billion chip bill to support the development of quantum chips
This week, the European Commission released the A Chips Act for Europe, which said it plans to spend more than 43 billion euros (about 312.5 billion yuan) by 2030 to boost the European semiconductor industry, through investment Next-generation technology, creating a semiconductor ecosystem, attracting and cultivating talents, and establishing international partnerships, etc., strive to increase the European semiconductor market share in the world from the current 10% to 20% by 2030.
The bill comes amid rising geopolitical tensions, rapidly growing demand for chips and potential further disruptions to supply chains. It is also in addition to the 150 billion euro 2030 Digital Compass "2030 Digital Compass" plan announced by the European Union last year. Because semiconductor chips are an important part of digital products. In short, there is no "digits" without chips.
The bill also specifically emphasizes that Europe must develop technical and engineering capabilities for quantum chip development.
Vision, Goals and Measures
In the field of semiconductors, Europe is strong in specific areas such as power electronics, radio frequency and analog devices, component design for sensors and microcontrollers, and Europe also has leading semiconductor research centers, the bill said. Europe is also very well-positioned to operate the materials and equipment needed to run large chip factories. Despite these advantages, Europe's overall share of the global semiconductor market is only 10% and is largely dependent on third-country suppliers.
Semiconductor Supply Chain: EU Global Market Share of Relevant Segments
The Act believes that Europe has the ability to become an industry leader in the future semiconductor market. Its goal is to produce at least 20% of the world's production of cutting-edge and sustainable semiconductors by 2030. The goal is not only to reduce over-dependence, but also to seize the opportunities presented by increasingly digital markets and technological change.
To achieve this goal, Europe must substantially increase its production capacity and build its capacity for leading technology. Specifically, it focuses on the following five strategic goals:
First, Europe should strengthen its research and technological leadership. This is critical to protecting Europe's existing assets in several breakthrough technologies, including equipment manufacturing and advanced materials, which are required to build next-generation production facilities serving all of its sectors.
Second, Europe should build and strengthen its own capacity to innovate in the design, manufacture and packaging of advanced, energy-efficient and secure chips and translate them into finished products. To this end, investment in pilot lines and advanced design, testing and experimentation facilities and tools is critical.
Third, Europe should create an appropriate framework to substantially increase its production capacity by 2030. With the global market expected to double by 2030, production in Europe must quadruple. It's not just a matter of quantity. This is also to be able to produce state-of-the-art chips in Europe, to meet the needs of users and to diversify market access. Europe needs to attract investment in its production facilities within and outside the EU and create the right conditions and an enabling framework for private investment.
Fourth, Europe should address acute skills shortages, attract new talent and support the emergence of a skilled workforce, as current shortages limit efforts aimed at strengthening the ecosystem.
The European Chip Strategy sets out a series of measures and initiatives, combined with substantial investments, to achieve the above vision and goals. Investment in the EU Chip Act is estimated to exceed €43 billion by 2030. This is likely to attract and capitalize on more long-term private investment of a corresponding amount.
This public investment includes a projected 11 billion euros from the European Chip Initiative to fund technological leadership in research, design and manufacturing capabilities by 2030. This will require joint investment by the EU and member states, and the private sector should also be involved.
In addition, equity support will be provided to start-ups, large corporations and other companies in the supply chain through investment promotion activities, collectively referred to as the "Chip Fund", with an expected total investment value of at least EUR 2 billion. Taken together, these various actions will directly provide more than 15 billion euros of public and private investment. In addition to this, the EIB can also provide loans to the entire semiconductor ecosystem.
Specific measures include that the EU should work closely with Member States and all relevant public and private stakeholders to coordinate efforts to pool knowledge and resources to create a vibrant and resilient semiconductor ecosystem in Europe. Furthermore, given the globalization of the semiconductor value chain, the EU should establish strong international cooperation. This will enhance coordination and minimize potential conflict of goals. This partnership facilitates a close assessment of third country policies in this area and a joint approach to supply challenges, including through mutually beneficial diversification strategies.
Implementing the above measures will create a vibrant ecosystem in the EU for the benefit of all member states, attracting investment in production, design and R&D, as well as the best global talent capable of realising this vision. These developments will strengthen Europe’s ability to meet its environmental goals, accelerating digital and green transitions, while improving EU security. This therefore requires decisive action now, which is why the European Commission is proposing a package of measures.
Support the development of quantum chips
The bill mentions the importance of quantum chips and quantum technology several times:
The semiconductor industry is driven by rapid technological developments that have brought miniaturization to new frontiers while increasing computing performance, reducing costs and limiting power consumption. Representative examples include: new transistor technologies such as full gate around and advanced FDSOI; emerging breakthrough technologies such as quantum and neuromorphic and new computing architectures based on advanced processor cores, including open source.
The bill says Europe is already investing in next-generation technologies under the Horizon Europe programme. Given the disruptive potential of quantum chips for complex computing tasks or ultra-secure communications, the EUR 1 billion quantum technology flagship under Horizon Europe is supporting research on quantum chips.
European Quantum Flagship
The new "Chip for Europe" initiative aims to strengthen the EU's semiconductor technology and innovation capabilities and ensure semiconductor technology leadership in the medium and long term. It will ensure the deployment of advanced semiconductor design tools, next-generation chip pilot lines and test facilities for innovative applications of the latest semiconductor technology across Europe. It will also cultivate the technical and engineering capabilities of quantum chips by building advanced technology and engineering capabilities in the field.
This initiative will build upon existing pilot lines and develop infrastructure capable of bringing new advanced technologies to a higher level of maturity, accelerating industrial adoption and commercialization. These cutting-edge facilities will provide industry with the means to test, experiment and validate new prototype system designs, integrating new breakthrough technologies such as quantum, artificial intelligence or neuromorphism.
In conclusion, quantum is a very promising emerging computing, communication and sensing technology. This initiative will support the establishment of technical and engineering capabilities to accelerate quantum chip development. This includes developing a pilot production line for quantum chips and their testing and experiments.
The European Union's Invest in Europe (InvestEU) programme will work closely with the European Investment Bank (EIB) group to establish a dedicated semiconductor equity hybrid loan. It will provide equity and quasi-equity financing, especially through venture capital funds, to support large enterprises and SMEs in semiconductor and quantum technologies.
In addition, the European Innovation Council (EIC) will offer dedicated investment possibilities in the form of grants and equity to support high-risk, innovative SMEs, including start-ups, in semiconductor and quantum technologies, particularly through its accelerator programme Create market innovation potential, help their innovations mature, and attract investors.
European chip law text:https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/83086
