Personal report of my participation in the Chips Join Undertaking For Europe initiative

?It's time to try to draw first conclusions from this wonderful event in Brussels Chips Joint Undertaking lead by European Commission on november 30, and December 1st 2023.

I will try to share the lessons I learned from these two days. This summary is far from being exhaustive and complete, but presents a first level of synthesis from my undestanding.

The European ChipAct is the largest investment budget organized by the commission and the states. 43 billion €uros in total, 11B€ contributed by the Commission, and the rest by the member states.

?But what will this investment be used for:

• The first objective seems to develop European sovereignty in the semiconductor industry, to gain autonomy and reduce friction linked to geopolitical hazards.
• The second objective seems to be, to develop the market shares of the European industry at the global level. Today we represent 9% of the global market. With a goal of increasing to 20% in 2035. In terms of design we only represent 1 or 2% with the objective of developing local design, to strengthen local production. This is the idea of setting up a virtuous circle.
• The third consists of creating 4 pilot lines entrusted to our main European entities ( CEA-Leti , imec , Fraunhofer IIS , 意法半导体 ), and which must benefit the entire community:

-> 1 pilot line on advanced 2nm (funded with €700M)

-> 1 pilot line on advanced Depleted SOI targeting 7nm (€420M)

-> 1 pilot line on packaging and heterogenous integration (370M€)

-> 1 pilot line on Wide Bandgap material (€180 million)

• The program will also lead to the creation of Skills Centers distributed in each member state which will be voluntary, with funding shared 50/50 between Europe and the member state hosting the Skills Center.
• And finally the program aims to create a platform bringing together all the players, aiming to simplify use as much as possible and help with the training of new entrants in our sector.

I will remember from the various interventions a few obstacles to remove in order to move forward.

• Regulation need to be adapted to new application and so as not to slow down innovation
• We need to Focus on industries that serve European interest and sovereignty
• We must act together as Europeans

?

And finally I will keep in mind a few direct quotes that I will not fail to bring out one day. These quotes were not recorded word for word but this is the state of mind that I keep from them :

• We need 20 million people before 2035 in our industry. Today we? are 9 million only. Signe RATSO CNECT European Commission
• I suggested we try to achieve that the world be dependent on Europe, instead of the opposite. See what ASML as achieved - Joost van Kuijk CEO Teledyne Adimec
• ?It will be wise we think more as European than each country. EU have the opportunity to make a connected ecosystem. CNECT European Commission
• Let's democratize access to chip design in Europe
• We must have an open platform, even going as far as schools and high schools so that the general public can understand our semiconductor industry. Manuel REI 达索系统

?And my absolute best one which should be hung in every French school and company.

• Optimism is pessimism with an action plan. Pierre Barnabé CEO SOITEC

?

In conclusion, my personal perception, as a child of Europe ; I am delighted that an initiative of this type is being put in place. There are obviously a large number of players (800 people in the room on the first day!!), but the European Commission offers us a unique framework for collaboration.

We are collectively responsible to remove technical obstacles (software interoperability remains a holy grail to find!!), contractual obstacles (confidentiality, European sovereignty), as well as the differences in points of view of member states.

I will return home with boosted motivation and with the feeling of being a small part of a great adventure for Europe.

?

?