EU must take urgent action to protect supply of chips and strategic assets 

Brussels, 27 October – The Dutch government’s intervention in the Nexperia case is yet another wake-up call for Europe on the need to strengthen the resilience of critical supply chains. A pragmatic solution to the supply disruptions is needed. But the EU must also draw broader lessons from the Nexperia incident. 

Secure immediate chip supply as immediate step   

The stability of parts of Europe’s industry that rely on a steady supply of chips is under immediate pressure from this disruption, exacerbated by geopolitical actions. We take positive note of the ongoing negotiations to find a pragmatic solution to secure the current supply of Nexperia semiconductors for European companies. Failing to act now risks production halts and the erosion of Europe’s global competitiveness.  

Build a resilient supply chain in the long-term  

The Nexperia incident underlines the need for a clear and ambitious European semiconductor strategy. We must pivot from fragmented national efforts to strategic, EU-level actions focused on making Europe competitive, indispensable and resilient on chips. In this context, we welcome the recent statement made by Member States on the Semiconductor Coalition.1 

Actions to address Europe’s current vulnerabilities and respond effectively to geopolitical challenges must include:  

• Implement a clear, common EU foreign policy learning from the more direct and concrete approach used in other jurisdictions – it needs to be clear for private sector who can invest in critical technologies and infrastructures in Europe. 

• Implement a clear, harmonized EU investment policy and EU-level semiconductor budget. To succeed we need to think and make scalable investments as Europeans, not as 27 nations. 

• Develop and maintain strategic manufacturing capacity within the EU that supports globally competitive production and is driven by industry needs.  

• Strengthen robust partnership agreements with like-minded allies including the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, South Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Taiwan, to build trusted value chains and reduce dependencies on single sources of supply.  

• Protect and scale Europe’s strengths, especially in mature node manufacturing, which still addresses the large majority of European industrial demand  

• Provide strategic support to build advanced packaging and assembly capabilities in Europe to secure the critical back-end of the semiconductor value chain.  

• Economic interdependence is now intrinsically linked to geopolitical risk, making supply resilience a matter of national and European security.   

Europe must acknowledge this new reality and structure its policies to reflect that the foundation of a resilient economy is a secure and accessible digital supply chain.