On April 18, the EU will finalize the chip law. Not only will these regulations provide money to boost chip production, they will also boost research. Imec played a major role in this.

Europe will pass the EU chip law on April 18th. Reuters knows this from anonymous sources. The chip law is intended to give the production of microchips in Europe an enormous boost. By 2030, around twenty percent of world production is to be provided on European soil.

chain net

The original plan for the chip law envisages investments of 43 billion euros in the chip industry. According to critics, this is far too little and, moreover, nothing more than a fairy tale budget. A conversation with members of parliament showed that in reality only around three billion euros are actually committed. This prompted MP Tom Vandenkdelaere (CD&V) to speak of a Ketnet competition policy.

Better a bird in the hand was the justification of the parliament and under this motto the final legislation has been worked on since then. So it would be ready on April 18th. What is striking about the regulations is the focus on R&D. Originally, the chips law was mainly intended to focus on production, but lawmakers also wanted to focus on Imec’s capabilities in Leuven. This research institute plays an important role on a global scale and is still eligible for funding now.