September 24, 2026

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September 24, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Rights Groups Test the EU Civil Society Strategy as Pressure MountsJudges Weigh EU Staff Nationality Quotas in Parliament Hiring CasePatents Could Unlock Startup Loans Under the European Innovation ActHungary EU Funds Move Closer as Commission Lifts Rule of Law FreezeMinisters Debate Chips Act 2.0 as Europe Pushes for More Chip OutputMontenegro Waits on a Dutch Vote as the EU Enlargement Sprint StallsGlobal Green Bond Initiative Bets on Private Money for PartnersEurope Draws a Line on Strait of Hormuz Tolls as Iran Talks ResumeStrasbourg Lets the European Defence Fund Pay for Tests in UkraineCSAM Regulation Talks Hinge on Scanning Private MessagesGoogle GDPR Fine of €403 Million Puts Location Data on TrialMFF 2028-2034 Talks Stall as Ministers Hold Their Red LinesBanks Contest Key Parts of the EU Banking Competitiveness PlanEMFAF Amendment Offers Fishers Simpler Rules and a Quota Cut CushionTeachers Trail Pupils as AI in Education Reports Expose a Training GapMacron Presses Brussels to Relax EU Fuel Quality Rules Before WinterEurostat Fuel Prices Jump 23.8 Per Cent as Diesel Leads August RiseData Centre Rating Scheme Puts Energy and Water Use on the EU RecordEU Indo-Pacific Security Partnerships Move From Paper to the SeaEU Thailand Free Trade Agreement Heads to Phuket for Its Final ThirdRights Groups Test the EU Civil Society Strategy as Pressure MountsJudges Weigh EU Staff Nationality Quotas in Parliament Hiring CasePatents Could Unlock Startup Loans Under the European Innovation ActHungary EU Funds Move Closer as Commission Lifts Rule of Law FreezeMinisters Debate Chips Act 2.0 as Europe Pushes for More Chip OutputMontenegro Waits on a Dutch Vote as the EU Enlargement Sprint StallsGlobal Green Bond Initiative Bets on Private Money for PartnersEurope Draws a Line on Strait of Hormuz Tolls as Iran Talks ResumeStrasbourg Lets the European Defence Fund Pay for Tests in UkraineCSAM Regulation Talks Hinge on Scanning Private MessagesGoogle GDPR Fine of €403 Million Puts Location Data on TrialMFF 2028-2034 Talks Stall as Ministers Hold Their Red LinesBanks Contest Key Parts of the EU Banking Competitiveness PlanEMFAF Amendment Offers Fishers Simpler Rules and a Quota Cut CushionTeachers Trail Pupils as AI in Education Reports Expose a Training GapMacron Presses Brussels to Relax EU Fuel Quality Rules Before WinterEurostat Fuel Prices Jump 23.8 Per Cent as Diesel Leads August RiseData Centre Rating Scheme Puts Energy and Water Use on the EU RecordEU Indo-Pacific Security Partnerships Move From Paper to the SeaEU Thailand Free Trade Agreement Heads to Phuket for Its Final Third

Ministers Debate Chips Act 2.0 as Europe Pushes for More Chip Output

Stefano Okaka
Policy Tracker, Economy and Competitiveness

Dresden: EU industry ministers will debate the Chips Act 2.0 at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on 24 September 2026, putting the European Commission’s plan to rebuild the bloc’s semiconductor policy before national governments for a formal ministerial exchange. The Irish Council Presidency wants to narrow differences among the 27 member states on funding, permitting and strategic projects before the Council settles its negotiating mandate.

The stakes are visible in Saxony, where Infineon’s expansion, the new ESMC fab and the GlobalFoundries SPRINT project make the region one of Europe’s densest chipmaking clusters. According to the Council’s forward look for late September, internal market and industry ministers will hold a policy debate on the Chips Act 2.0 and will also hear updates on the industrial accelerator act, the 28th regime for companies and the European competitiveness fund.

The Commission presented the proposal on 3 June as part of its Technology Sovereignty Package. “Today’s package marks a major shift in how Europe approaches technological sovereignty,” Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said at the launch, adding that Europe must be “in control of its data, of its supply chains, and of its future.”

The draft regulation, procedure 2026/0139(COD), would replace the first European Chips Act, which entered into force on 21 September 2023. The Commission credits that law with mobilising more than €52 billion in public and private investment, five pilot lines and an estimated 46,000 direct and indirect jobs. Yet Europe still accounts for less than 10% of global semiconductor production and relies on outside suppliers for leading-edge manufacturing, memory chips, design and advanced packaging.

The new text tries to close that gap on both sides of the market. On the supply side, it would support first-of-a-kind facilities from materials to packaging, create Strategic Projects that unlock EU money alongside national and industry co-investment, and launch a Semiconductor Regions of Excellence label. It also sets a target of approving permits within a maximum of 12 months.

The bigger shift lies on the demand side. The Commission wants Demand Accelerators to speed the uptake of new European chips, more innovation procurement for start-ups and scale-ups, and closer links with the Cloud and AI Development Act so that data centres and AI Gigafactories source from European fabs. A Business-to-Business Semiconductor Supply Chain Platform would give companies and authorities earlier sight of bottlenecks before a crisis hits.

Industry groups back the direction but press for speed. Silicon Saxony, the Dresden cluster association, lists faster and more flexible approval procedures, a closer link between research and manufacturing to close the “lab-to-fab gap” and stronger EU demand for EU-made products among its core demands, according to its briefing on the legislative process.

The Council Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth has met repeatedly since June to reconcile national positions. The open questions include the financing and design of support instruments, which investments qualify as Strategic Projects, the speed of state aid approvals and the role that semiconductor regions should play.

In the European Parliament, the Industry, Research and Energy Committee leads the file, with EPP MEP Oliver Schenk as rapporteur and Matthias Ecke (S&D) and Bart Groothuis (Renew) negotiating for their groups. The Committee of the Regions is preparing an advisory opinion under rapporteur Thomas Schmidt, a member of the Saxon state parliament.

The background explains the urgency. The Draghi report of September 2024 called for tighter coordination of semiconductor policy, 54 MEPs demanded an ambitious successor law in March 2025, and all 27 governments had joined the Semicon Coalition by 29 September 2025. Analysts expect the global chip market to reach €1.37 trillion by 2030, with AI components driving much of that growth.

Parliament, the Council and the Commission have set the second quarter of 2027 as a political target for a final deal on the Chips Act 2.0, although that date carries no legal force. Thursday’s debate will show whether ministers can move quickly enough to meet it.

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