European Commission gathers first five pilot lines together in Brussels

22 Jan 2025

Aiming to position Europe as leading ecosystem provider for semi industry, alongside EU Chips Act.

The European Commission last week hosted a ceremonial event to mark the launch of the first five pilot lines under the Chips Joint Undertaking Initiative (Chips JU).

The event brought together Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, representatives from the pilot lines, and the Executive Director of Chips JU.

Pilot line representatives included Valerio Pruneri (ICFO), director of the pilot line PIXEurope, imec’s CEO Luc Van den hove, director of the pilot line NanoIC, François Jacq (CEA-Leti), director of the pilot line FAMES, Albert Heuberger (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft), representative of the pilot line APECS, and Stefano Fabris (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), representative of the pilot line WBG (Wide Band Gap).

Bridging the gap

The meeting took place on January 16, 2025, at the European Commission headquarters in Berlaymont, Brussels. The celebration marked the launch of the first five European Pilot lines which aim to bridge the gap between research innovation and industrial-scale manufacturing, as well as position Europe as a prosperous region and leading ecosystem for the chips and semiconductor industry, in alignment with the European Chips Act’s strategy.

The pilot lines are supported by a total of €3.7 billion in funding, comprising contributions from the European Union through the Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programmes, as well as commensurate investments from participating Member States.

Focusing on five key areas, these lines will act as collaborative hubs for research institutions, academia, and industry. They will provide open access to state-of-the-art research facilities, accelerating experimentation, process development, and validation of cutting-edge semiconductor technologies. This effort is designed to foster technological capacity, strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness, and drive innovation across diverse sectors.

The European Commission’s Chips Joint Undertaking supports research, development, innovation, and future manufacturing capacities in the European semiconductor ecosystem. It was launched by the European Union Council Regulation No 2021/1085 and amended in September 2023 as part of the Chips for Europe Initiative.

It confronts semiconductor shortages and strengthens Europe’s digital autonomy, engaging a significant EU, national/regional and private industry funding of nearly €11 billion. The Chips JU is funded by the European Union, Chips JU Participating States and Private Members.