A deal was reached under the leadership of the Socialists and Democrats on the so-called European Chips Act, creating better conditions for the production of semi-conductors in the EU as a result of negotiations between the political groups in the European Parliament, the European Commission and the member states in the Council of the European Union. The deal means securing considerable EU funding for technological capacity, production, and innovation. 

Dan Nica, S&D, European Parliament's negotiator on the European Chips Act in the European Parliament committee on industry, research and energy, said:

“The deal we reached today should put an end to the problems many high tech industries in Europe have. For example, our automotive industry suffered a lot from shortages in chips and people had to wait for months to have their car delivered. Our smartphones depend on a reliable supply chain for chips. We count too much on the import of chips from third countries. We agreed today to establish a response mechanism in case of shortage.

“We reached the deal within a very short period for such complex and strategically important negotiations - it took about one month and a half. This should show the strong level of ambition among institutions and decision-makers. Of course, all the good things we agreed on today would require a large amount of funding. The €3.3bn reflects our ambitions and our high expectations for boosting the EU industry and our technological autonomy, especially for SMEs and start-ups. When it comes to research and development, we, the Socialists and Democrats, made sure R&D funding does not endanger or cut ongoing programs.”