[News] Nine European Countries Form Semiconductor Industry Alliance

Against the backdrop of increasingly fierce global competition in the semiconductor industry, alliance cooperation has gradually become a major trend in industrial development. According to media reports, nine European countries have recently officially signed an agreement to form the “Semicon Coalition,” aiming to enhance chip self-sufficiency and strengthen their position in the global semiconductor landscape through collaborative efforts.

The alliance consists of Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Austria, Poland, and Spain, covering the entire industrial chain from research and development to application. The alliance focuses on three core areas:

• Technological Sovereignty: Focusing on advanced processes below 2 nanometers, third-generation semiconductor materials, and AI chip architectures.
• Supply Chain Resilience: Increasing the localization rate of key products, with the goal of raising Europe’s automotive chip production capacity to more than 50%.
• Innovative Competitiveness: Promoting technology transfer through industry-academia-research cooperation.

Industry experts believe the formation of the nine-country semiconductor alliance will undoubtedly inject new vitality into the development of the European semiconductor industry, helping Europe achieve self-sufficiency in chip manufacturing and enhancing its position in the global semiconductor market.

However, the alliance also faces challenges, including internal conflicts of interest among member countries. The Netherlands, with its monopoly in photolithography through ASML, tends to expand equipment exports, while Germany seeks to strengthen its domestic manufacturing capabilities. Additionally, funding and talent shortages are problems the alliance needs to address.

Despite these challenges, Europe is striving to build a resilient and controllable ecosystem through institutional innovation and cross-national collaboration, laying a solid foundation for the future development of the semiconductor industry.

(Photo credit: ASML)