Considerations on COM(2022)47 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe, as regards the Chips Joint Undertaking - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2022)47 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe, as regards the Chips Joint ... |
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| document | COM(2022)47  |
| date | July 25, 2023 |
(2) The Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking addresses clearly defined topics that enable European industries at large to design, manufacture and use the most innovative technologies in electronic components and systems.
(3) Regulation (EU) […] 23 establishes a framework for increasing the Union’s resilience in the field of semiconductor technologies, stimulating investment, strengthening the capabilities of the European semiconductor supply chain, and increasing cooperation among the Member States and the Commission. To create the conditions necessary to strengthen the Union’s industrial innovation capacity, the Chips for Europe Initiative (the ‘Initiative’) is established. In order to ensure a consistent implementation of the Initiative, the European Semiconductor Board should provide advice to the Public Authorities Board.
(4) The activities supported under the Initiative should be funded from Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council 24 establishing the Horizon Europe Programme and from Regulation (EU) 2021/694 of the European Parliament and of the Council 25 establishing the Digital Europe Programme.
(5) The Initiative aims to reinforce the competitiveness and resilience of the semiconductor technological and industrial base, whilst strengthening the innovation capacity of its semiconductor ecosystem, reducing dependence on a limited number of third country companies and geographies, and strengthening its capacity to design and produce advanced components. These aims should be supported by bridging the gap between the Union’s advanced research and innovation capabilities and their industrial exploitation. It should promote capacity building to enable design, production and systems integration in next-generation semiconductor technologies, enhance collaboration among key players across the Union, strengthening Europe’s semiconductor supply and value chains, serving key industrial sectors, and creating new markets.
(6) The Initiative should be implemented through actions that should build upon the strong knowledge base acquired by the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking. The Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking should be tasked with providing financial support, through any instrument or procedure provided for in Horizon Europe or the Digital Europe Programme, to actions funded under the Initiative. Furthermore, the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking should be renamed to Chips Joint Undertaking. Throughout the lifetime of the Chips Joint Undertaking, at least EUR 2.5 billion should be dedicated to pilot lines, design infrastructures, competence centres, and other capacity building activities.
(7) The activities funded by the Chips Joint Undertaking should be covered in one single work programme, which should be adopted by the Governing Board. Before each work programme is prepared, the Public Authorities Board, taking into account the advice of the European Semiconductor Board and input from other relevant stakeholders, including as appropriate, roadmaps produced by the Alliance on Processors and Semiconductor Technologies 26 , should define the part of the work programme related to capacity building activities and research and innovation activities, including their corresponding expenditure estimates. For this purpose, the Public Authorities Board should include only the Commission and public authorities from Member States. Subsequently, on the basis of this definition, the Executive Director should prepare the work programme including capacity building and research and innovation activities and their corresponding expenditure estimates.
(8) When the Governing Board adopts the work programme, the voting rights for the part of the work programme related to capacity building should be limited to the Commission and Member States only. The voting rights for the part of the work programme related to R&I activities should be equally shared between the Commission, the Participating States, and the private members. In the event that a decision on one of the two parts of the work programme cannot be reached, the work programme should be adopted including only the part on which a positive decision has been reached.
(9) The Public Authorities Board should be responsible for the selection of the projects related to capacity building activities. For this purpose, the Public Authorities Board should include only the Commission and public authorities from Member States.
(10) The Public Authorities Board should be responsible for the selection of the projects related to R&I activities.
(11) With a view to accelerating implementation of the actions of the Initiative and enhance cooperation between legal entities, particularly Research and Technology Organisations, certain proposals for actions should be eligible for funding only if the action is carried out by legal entities cooperating within a consortium of at least three legal entities from three different Members States. That consortium could be structured either as the European Chips Infrastructure Consortium as proposed in the ‘Chips Act’, or based on other available legal tools under Union law. Given that the activities supported under the Initiative and implemented by the Chips Joint Undertaking are financed from Horizon Europe programme and the Digital Europe programme, the Union financial contribution to the Chips Joint Undertaking indicated in Article 128 of Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 should be increased accordingly. The administrative costs of the Chips Joint Undertaking should also be increased in accordance with the increase of operational tasks. The private members should not contribute to the additional administrative costs.
(12) Provision of financial support to activities from the Digital Europe Programme should comply with Regulation (EU) 2021/694.
(13) The Chips Joint Undertaking should facilitate cooperation between the Union and international actors by defining a cooperation strategy, including identifying and promoting areas for cooperation in research and development and skills development, and implementing actions where there is a mutual benefit, mainly based on reciprocity.
(14) Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 should therefore be amended accordingly.