Finnish semiconductor industry supports Member States’ push for a stronger EU Chips Act
The Finnish semiconductor industry welcomes and supports the declaration by the EU Member State Semiconductor Coalition, which urges a bold and strategically revised EU Chips Act to strengthen and revitalise Europe’s position in the global semiconductor industry. It asks the European Commission to focus on three key objectives in the revision: prosperity, indispensability and resilience. A central proposal is to better align EU, national and private funding streams to deliver the scale and impact needed for Europe to compete globally.
– We share the declaration’s call to move beyond broad targets and instead focus on Europe’s unique strengths and indispensable assets across the value chain—from R&D and design to manufacturing and strategic end-markets. The emphasis on targeted investment and long-term sustainability objectives is especially important. These are crucial to ensuring Europe’s semiconductor strengths can grow responsibly, securely and at scale, states Tomy Runne, Chair of the Semiconductor Branch Group of Technology Industries of Finland
Finland’s industry-led strategy, Chips from the North, outlines the ambition to grow the sector’s revenue to €5–6 billion by 2035, expand the workforce to 20,000 professionals and lead in high-value areas such as chip design, sensor innovation, photonics, quantum technologies, advanced materials and sustainable process technologies. To achieve greater scale, coherence and impact, EU chips policy should be closely aligned with such national strategic initiatives.
Excellence, investment and company-led action for a stronger Europe
A revised Chips Act should prioritise key capabilities and enable targeted investments that maximise Europe’s long-term competitiveness. This means working closely with European end-user industries—most notably in telecommunications, but also in defence, energy and aerospace—to coordinate chip development with strategic application needs and reinforce integrated value chains. It should also help these industries build design-specific semiconductor activities that strengthen Europe’s position in future technology markets.
A central element of this effort is the establishment of excellence-based funding mechanisms that support Europe’s most promising chip innovations—such as next-generation Edge AI, 6G and quantum chips. These instruments are essential to accelerate strategic projects and ensure that public investment drives genuine technological leadership.
– In addition, EU-level instruments should include a company-led RDI funding model akin to those successfully operated by Business Finland, ensuring agile support for scalable innovations driven by industry, continues Tomy Runne.
The development of the quantum sector demands specialised investment and resources that are separate from, yet complementary to, those of the semiconductor industry, and should be closely coordinated with the forthcoming Quantum Act to maximise Europe’s strategic advantage.
Finland’s global strengths in semiconductor innovation
Finland brings globally recognised expertise in low-power SoC design, cutting-edge photonics, MEMS technologies and atomic layer deposition, as well as a proven track record in industry–academia collaboration. The Finnish chips ecosystem is committed to working with European partners to accelerate joint R&D efforts, strengthen workforce development and scale the next wave of innovation in critical technologies. This is exemplified by Finland’s role in co-hosting all five EU pilot lines.
– As global competition intensifies, Europe needs swift and determined action. A bold, co-ordinated and forward-looking Chips Act 2.0 will be essential to ensure that the technologies defining tomorrow’s economy—AI, quantum, connectivity, green energy and space—are powered by world-class chips made and designed in Europe, says Joonas Mikkilä, Senior Advisor at Technology Industries of Finland
The Semiconductor Branch Group of Technology Industries of Finland urges the EU to advance a revised Chips Act that secures Europe’s semiconductor future and guarantees industry a strong voice—including Finland’s—in all key policy platforms.
More information
