EU aims to double European market share in semiconductor manufacturing by 2030

The EU aims to double its semiconductor production to 20% of global production by 2030. The European Commission makes this known in its Digital Compass 2030 plans. All European households must also receive gigabit internet before that year.

With its Digital Compass 2030, the EU outlines plans for a ‘digital decade’, with various ambitions to be achieved for that year. Most notable are the plans to improve the European semiconductor industry. The continent currently accounts for about ten percent of the global chip industry and aims to double that percentage in the coming years.

“Europe’s production of advanced and durable semiconductors, including processors, must be at least 20% of world production by value,” the European Commission said in an accompanying document. The EU says it focuses specifically on the production capacities of 5nm chips or smaller, with a 2nm node as the ultimate goal.

The EU has been talking about the increasing need for chip production within Europe for some time and has already argued for investments in the European semiconductor industry. With the current chip shortage, these plans seem to be gaining momentum. The trade war between the US and China may also play a role in the increasing push for independence in the field of chip production. The European Commission already cited ‘a new geopolitical, industrial and technological reality’ as one of the reasons for the EU’s chip ambitions in a previously downloadable PDF file.

In addition to chip manufacturing ambitions, the Digital Compass 2030 also includes other plans for EU residents. For example, all European households must have access to gigabit internet and 5G by 2030. In addition, 80 percent of the adult population must have ‘basic skills’ with technology. There must also be at least twenty million IT specialists working within the EU and the number of women in that sector must also increase. The first European quantum computer must be a fact before 2025 and Europe wants to ‘be among the top’ in the field of quantum computing by 2030.

The Digital Compass 2030 plans should be implemented in collaboration between different EU countries. For example, investments from the EU budget, Member States and the private sector can be combined. Twenty percent of the Recovery and Resilience budget should be allocated to ‘digital transformation’.

European digital ambitions, to be implemented before 2030. Image via European Commission