Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2667 actions· ✨ 89 recent

On 3 June 2026 the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal to amend and substantially expand the EU Chips Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/1781), as part of the European Technological Sovereignty Package. The proposal raises the mobilisation target from €43bn to €120bn, introduces new demand-side "Demand Accelerators" to aggregate public procurement, expands "Grand Challenges" to cover AI-optimised chips, caps permitting at 12 months, and widens the Strategic Partnerships on Semiconductors framework. As a Commission legislative proposal it now enters co-decision (European Parliament + Council) before becoming law; the 2023 regulation remains in force during this process.

The European Commission (DG COMP) approved on 20 May 2026 two German State aid measures under the European Chips Act first-pillar 'first-of-a-kind' framework and Article 107(3)(c) TFEU, totalling €288 million. A €222 million grant supports Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's HNA@SCALE project in Oberkochen (Baden-Württemberg) to industrialise the next generation of High-NA EUV optical columns — the lithography-optic sub-systems integrated by ASML into its High-NA EUV scanners and critical to 2nm-and-below node manufacturing globally. A separate €66 million grant supports Zadient Materials Europe GmbH's SiC-Pro project in Bitterfeld (Saxony-Anhalt) to construct a first-of-a-kind ultra-pure silicon carbide (SiC) source-material manufacturing facility, addressing upstream SiC supply-chain dependence on China (which produces ~80% of global SiC). Both facilities carry cross-border spillover commitments under Chips Act pillar 1.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2003, adopted by the European Commission on 8 September 2025, published in the Official Journal on 14 November 2025 and entering into force on 15 November 2025, amends Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2021/821 to implement the 2024 multilateral decisions of the Wassenaar Arrangement, MTCR, Australia Group, and NSG. The most extensive EU semiconductor-equipment additions since the 2021 framework took effect: ALD, epitaxial deposition, lithography, EUV pellicles/masks/reticles, SEM, and etching equipment, plus tighter controls on quantum computers, advanced FPGAs/ICs for AI training, additive-manufacturing, and cryogenic/superconducting components. The regulation is the EU-side update layer of the Western dual-use export control architecture, structurally aligned with the US BIS advanced- computing/SME packages and the Netherlands DUV-licensing regime.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1781, published in the Official Journal on 18 September 2023 and in force from 8 October 2023, establishes the EU Chips Act: a three-pillar framework targeting 20% of global semiconductor production by 2030 (up from approximately 9% in 2022) by mobilising EUR 43bn in public and private investment. Pillar 1 (Chips for Europe Initiative, EUR 3.3bn committed from EU budget) funds R&D, pilot production lines, and design infrastructure. Pillar 2 creates a fast-track permitting regime for "Integrated Production Facilities" (IPFs) and "Open EU Foundries" (OEFs) that qualify as being in the Union's interest. Pillar 3 establishes a supply-chain monitoring mechanism and grants the Commission power to mandate priority orders from designated facilities during a declared semiconductor crisis.