Towards a Chips Act Plus in Europe

By Alison James, senior EU director, government relations

At the request of the European Commission (EC), the Global Electronics Association hosted a workshop this week with European PCB and EMS companies on the European Chips Act. The workshop is part of the EC’s official evaluation of the Act and preparation for consideration of a Chips Act 2.0.

The European Chips Act is scheduled for review in 2026. Amid ongoing geopolitical shifts, the EC is accelerating its evaluation and review process towards an Instrument that meets today’s needs. 

The Global Electronics Association has been advocating in Brussels for a Chips Act 2.0 approach that would better address the needs of critical European industries, including PCB and EMS, during these turbulent times. 

The workshop, introduced by European Commission Chips Act Head of Unit Pierre Chastanet, evidences a potentially new approach by the Commission to better address demand from European critical sectors.  The Commission’s engagement with the PCB and EMS industries in the evaluation suggests that the Commission may be looking to a broader approach in a Chips Act 2.0.

At this week’s meeting, Christoph Solka, the Association’s director of Industry Intelligence, provided an economic overview of the European PCB and EMS industries. Peter Tranitz, senior director of Technology Solutions, highlighted the technical requirements of system-level packaging – the next frontier in electronics, requiring a silicon-to-systems holistic approach. Matthias Pirs, AT&S authorised officer and director of Corporate Affairs, spoke to the role of advanced PCBs and IC substrates as enablers for critical industries. Xaver Feiner, vice president of Zollner Elektronik, presented on Europe’s EMS industry and its crucial role in the electronics ecosystem. 

The Global Electronics Association thanks the European PCB and EMS companies, as well as our partner national trade associations, for their participation and insights at the meeting. Participants provided a clear message on their needs: 

• Recognition of the European electronics ecosystem as a critical industry on its own merits, as well as the realisation that it is the key enabler of most other European critical industries.
• An industrial strategy for the European electronics ecosystem that responds to the requirements and demands of European critical industries.
• Expanded scope of the Chips Act (Chips Act Plus) and/or introduction of new legislation that enables funding and other support for PCBs, PCBAs, and advanced electronics assembly and other parts of the electronics ecosystem to meet the needs of critical European industries. The funding should also enable factory modernization and include expansion to build needed capacity.
• Introduction of a European origin threshold for electronics to meet the needs of the European critical industries. This also functions as a lever to build European industrial capacity where needed most. 

The EC evaluation of the Chips Act is open for response by public consultation until November 28 at the following link https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-launches-public-consultation-and-call-evidence-evaluation-and-review-chips-act

The EC is seeking feedback from European PCB and EMS companies in this process. In addition, the Global Electronics Association will provide a response to the consultation. For more information, contact AlisonJames@electronics.org