Commissioner Breton meeting with European leaders in processors and semiconductors technologies to discuss furthering Europe’s global competitiveness and resilience

This morning, Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton visited the headquarters of the Dutch company ASML and met with the CEO Peter Wennink, as well as Luc Van den Hove, CEO of the international research and development organisation IMEC, both European leaders in processors and semiconductors technologies. They held a constructive exchange on advancing Europe’s ambition in the production of next-generation processors and semiconductors. The Commissioner has discussed Europe’s ambition to strengthen its technological leadership, strategic autonomy and security of supply in the most advanced semi-conductors. In this perspective, the Commissioner mentioned the need for enhanced coordination in Europe, and the role of the upcoming alliance on processors and semiconductor technologies. The alliance will bring together key actors of the electronics value chain in Europe in order to boost Europe’s capacity to design and produce advanced trusted microelectronics chips (including below 5nm semiconductors). These semi-conductors, including processors, are essentials in the fields of automotive, edge-AI, secure connectivity and defence. As announced in the Digital Decade strategy, the ambition is to increase Europe’s production of cutting-edge and sustainable semiconductors in Europe to at least 20% of world production in value, from 10% today.