The key facts

  • The European Commission launched the European Chip Design Platform with €525 million in funding
  • Startups and SMEs will be able to receive grants of up to €16 million
  • European companies account for less than 1% of global revenues in chip design

A new platform for chip developers

The European Commission announced on Wednesday the launch of the European Chip Design Platform — a support programme for young companies in semiconductor design with total funding of €525 million, euronews reports. Early-stage participants will receive design tools, access to intellectual property and manufacturing capacity, as well as grants of up to €16 million. The platform is being created through the Chips Joint Undertaking and is a key element of the EU Chips Act, which sets out five strategic objectives, including strengthening Europe's capacity to design advanced chips.

Why the focus is on design

Design is the stage of the value chain where a significant share of the industry's innovations is born, yet, according to the European Commission, European companies currently account for less than 1% of global revenues in this segment. EU officials explain the choice with strategic logic: new European factories will only pay off if there is sufficient demand, and a significant part of that demand must come from European designers. The platform is therefore aimed at building demand and expertise at the beginning of the chain, rather than merely competing on fab capacity.

Context: the Chips Act's goals in question

The initiative comes amid pressure on Europe's position in the global industry. The Chips Act set a target of raising the EU's share of global semiconductor production to 20% by 2030, from roughly 9% in 2020, however the European Court of Auditors in a 2025 report concluded that this target is most likely unattainable. Manufacturing capacity is concentrated among a few players: Taiwan's TSMC produces about seven out of ten chips made for other companies, while the most advanced chips for AI systems and the latest smartphones are made almost entirely in Taiwan and South Korea. Supporters of the Act, for their part, argue that it helped reverse a long decline: according to a European Commission representative, the Act laid the foundation and put Europe back on a growth trajectory after two decades of decline.