Technology Industries of Finland backs EU Chips Act 2.0 framework but says demand and funding will decide whether it works
Technology Industries of Finland says the European Commission’s proposal tackles chip demand for the first time. It wants industry to lead how that demand is built, backs an industry call for a ring-fenced €30 billion to €60 billion budget, and wants quantum and photonic chip manufacturing added to the priority list.
Martti Asikainen | 9.10.2026 | Photo by Technology Industries of Finland
A chip factory cannot be built in Europe without customers. And customers will not design advanced chips for a factory that cannot yet make them. That standoff is what the EU’s Chips Act 2.0 tries to address, according to Technology Industries of Finland.
“Each side waits for the other,” wrote Joonas Mikkilä, senior advisor for digitalisation at Technology Industries of Finland, in a blog post published earlier this week. “Ideas born in European labs are too often manufactured elsewhere,” he added.
The Chips Act 2.0 is the European Commission’s proposal, presented on 3 June, to rewrite the EU’s semiconductor law. The organisation set out seven recommendations in a position paper, and Mikkilä followed with the blog a day later. The verdict is mostly warm.
The Commission, he wrote, has built “the right framework”. Whether it works depends, according to the blog, on “where the money goes and who decides”.
A world where chips are leverage
The stakes have grown with AI. Global chip sales are set to pass about €870 billion this year, up from about €610 billion in 2025. The Commission expects the market to reach €1.37 trillion by 2030. AI data centres drive most of the growth, Mikkilä wrote.
Europe makes less than a tenth of the world’s chips and meets about a fifth of its own demand. That matters, he argued, because chips have become an instrument of power. Governments restrict exports, attach conditions to supply and bring technology into trade talks.
His answer is not self-sufficiency. He wrote that “sovereignty comes from being indispensable”. Europe already holds such positions in manufacturing equipment, specialty materials, and power and sensor chips. They last only as long as they stay competitive.
Breaking the circle
For the first time, the Chips Act tackles demand as well as supply. The proposal adds industry-led Demand Accelerators, cross-sector Grand Challenges and innovation procurement.
First-of-a-kind status, which unlocks State aid and faster permits, now spans the whole value chain. Permitting is capped at 12 months, and quantum chips and photonics get dedicated support. Industry asked for all of this, Mikkilä wrote, and it should survive the legislative process intact.
The demand tools are the right ones, he argued, but still loosely defined. Industry, where the demand sits, should lead their design and use. They should also reach beyond the biggest buyers to fields where small European firms already lead. These include MEMS (microscopic mechanical parts built on chips), photonics (chips that use light), power semiconductors and quantum technologies.
He pointed to “physical AI”, meaning robots and machinery that use AI, as the prize. Europe already has the building blocks in robotics, automation, machinery and sensors. A serious Grand Challenge could turn them into a steady source of orders for European chips.
Who decides where the money goes
Most of the money would flow through strategic projects, large cross-border investments with EU backing. The Commission’s impact assessment models an example investment of €40 billion.
The organisation’s test is simple. Priorities should follow the needs of the systems Europe cannot afford to lose control of, namely cloud and AI, telecoms, defence, industrial automation and energy.
Design capability in the firms that build those systems should come first, with manufacturing and advanced packaging following. If the EU backs their chip design and pools their demand, Mikkilä wrote, it can generate the orders an advanced open foundry will need. A foundry is a factory that makes chips for other firms’ designs.
The proposal’s priority list includes advanced manufacturing, AI chips, memory and leading-edge design. It leaves out quantum and photonic chip manufacturing, where Mikkilä sees a real chance for Europe to lead.
Who chooses matters too. The Industrial Alliance for Semiconductors gets formal status, but is expected to meet the European Semiconductor Board only once a year. For decisions worth billions, he wrote, that is “far too little”. He wants mandatory, structured consultation with industry.
The money is negotiated elsewhere
The regulation itself carries almost no new money. Funding will be settled in the EU budget for 2028 to 2034 and the European Competitiveness Fund.
The Commission’s own impact assessment concedes that without a much bigger budget the benefits will be smaller, Mikkilä noted. The organisation’s position paper recommends a ring-fenced €30 billion to €60 billion, drawn from all four technology windows of the fund. It wants the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and member states to negotiate the rules and the money as one package.
Mikkilä also argued that no region can make all its own chips. He wrote that Europe should keep trusted partners such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States embedded in its supply chain, and that new security-of-supply duties should stay narrow.
Finland has plenty riding on the outcome. Its industry-led strategy, Chips from the North, aims to triple the sector’s revenue to between €5 billion and €6 billion by 2035. Mikkilä listed Finnish strengths in chip design, MEMS and sensors, advanced materials, photonics, quantum technologies and pilot lines.
