EU has no chance of becoming a worldwide power in chips, not soon
The EU will not soon be able to achieve its goal of becoming a worldwide power in the production of chips (semiconductors). This conclusion comes to the audit of the European Court of Auditors, which evaluates the implementation of the Law on Chip Adopted in the EU in 2022.
According to the audit published on Monday, « it is very unlikely that the EU will achieve its goal for a 20% share of the global microchip market by 2030, » the main reason for this is the shortage of investment.
According to the European Commission, 1 trillion chip was produced in the EU in 2020, which was 10% of world production. Exiting the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU aims to double production after the shortage of semiconducts has led to delay the production of electric cars and other products.
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The auditors find evidence that the European Commission itself, which wrote the strategy and the law, has predicted problems, saying that the EU cannot be expected to take more than 11.7% of production by 2030 at 9.8% in 2022.
Unrealistic ambitions
European auditors say they have found a « discrepancy between ambition and reality ».
| « We are currently far from the pace needed to achieve our ambitions, » said the auditor Anemi Tourtelblum, advised the European Commission to reassess its strategy. |
As the main reason for the failure, the report indicates the fact that only 5% of the planned investments to achieve the goal are from the European budget and the rest should be provided by the Member States.
The report says that although the European Commission should monitor the implementation of the Chip Act, it has no mandate to coordinate national investment.
Some money and heavy legislation
The Court of Auditors states that the EU as a whole has allocated insufficient funds – 86 billion euros by 2030, while the world spent the production of chips 405 billion in three years.
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Auditors also find disadvantages in the European Chip Act, stating that its texts « are not clear enough in terms of their goals and monitoring, and it is difficult to assess whether it correctly reports the current levels of search for mass microchips in the industry. »
An obstacle to the implementation of the target is the shortage of raw materials and labor, high costs of energy and geopolitical tension.
« The EU Microchip Industry consists of several large high -value projects, which means that the funding is concentrated. The cancellation, delay or failure of a project can therefore have a significant impact on the whole sector, » the European auditors wrote.
