Position on the Chips Act 2.0 (COM (2026) 504 final): Regions of Helsinki-Uusimaa and Tampere, including the cities of Espoo, Vantaa and Tampere and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Key messages on the Commission’s proposal for the Regulation:

Funding for Chips Act
1. The Chips Act 2.0 and the forthcoming Quantum Act should be explicitly linked to all policy windows of the European Competitiveness Fund and to Horizon Europe, with a ring-fenced semiconductor budget between €30 and € 60 billion.
2. Implementation of the Chips Act 2.0 funding should be determined by excellence, particularly in the next-generation technologies where Europe’s competitors are not yet dominant, rather than by the availability of state aid. EU added value, not national budgets, should drive the development.

A clear linkage between the Chips Act and the Quantum dimension
3. The quantum dimension should be strengthened throughout the Regulation. Quantum and semiconductor technologies share the same processes, infrastructure and talent; hence, legislation should be designed as one framework.
4. Quantum chip manufacturing should be explicitly mentioned and able to qualify as a first-of-a-kind initiative, and operational objective 3 of the Chips for Europe Initiative 2.0 should include industrial uptake.

The European Semiconductor Region of Excellence label must be based on excellence and backed by funding
5. The European Semiconductor Region of Excellence label must have clearly defined impacts, including facilitated access to the European Competitiveness Fund and Horizon Europe. The Network established based on labelled regions should have a permanent role in the legislation, engaging in a structured dialogue with the Steering

Committee of the Industrial Alliance for Semiconductors with a view to defining a common strategy on semiconductors
6. A region receiving the label should be defined by excellence and proximity rather than by the geographic boundaries of the applying authority, and an ecosystem spanning several authorities should be able to apply as one.
7. Regions of Excellence should complement one another and strengthen the whole European chain, from laboratory research to system integration, creating aggregated demand for industrial-scale production in Europe and building on the close cross-border cooperation already established between the pilot lines and the design platform. International partners, including from outside the Union, should remain able to participate where they bring capabilities not sufficiently available in Europe.

Europe needs skills to match the aims stated in the act
8. Europe can compete in next-generation semiconductor technologies only with the best available expertise. Talents need to be grown and attracted.
9. Skills instruments like the Union of Skills, the European Skills Academies, the Pact for Skills and Choose Europe, should be used to attract and retain top talent and to upskill and reskill the existing workforce.

Source: https://helsinki.eu/en/position-papers/