Investing in future-proof microchips
The Netherlands and Europe want to be less dependent on other countries for microchips. They also want to ensure that the right type of microchips are always available in sufficient quantities. In order to do this, the Netherlands is investing in innovative projects and making agreements with other countries, including countries in the European Union (EU).
Preventing a shortage of microchips
Microchips (semiconductors) play a major role in our daily lives and will continue to do so in the future. They are used in smartphones, electric cars and medical devices, among other things. During the COVID-19 pandemic there was a temporary shortage of microchips. As a result, there were fewer medical devices and computers available. By producing and developing more microchips within the Netherlands and the EU, the Netherlands wants to prevent such a shortage in the future.
Protecting sensitive knowledge related to Dutch microchips
Foreign governments and armies also use microchips, for example in weapons or in cameras that monitor ordinary people. The Netherlands wants to prevent microchips or related knowledge from falling into the wrong hands. One way it does this is to check where certain microchips or machines that make them are sent.
In some cases the Netherlands even wants to prevent specific countries from importing microchips or knowledge about them. For example, by imposing sanctions on countries that are at war. The Netherlands also has rules that prevent other countries from getting their hands on Dutch knowledge. This stops these countries from making their own microchips and using them for the wrong purposes.
Our goal: becoming less dependent on other countries
By increasingly taking the production and development of microchips into its own hands, the Netherlands is looking to become less dependent on other countries. The agreements the Netherlands has made with other European countries on this subject can be found in the European Chips Act.
The purpose of this law is to help make the European Union an even more important player in the area of microchips. This will ensure that there is more knowledge, know-how and production in Europe. The law aims to increase the global market share of the European Union in this area from 10% to 20%.
More jobs and easier access to microchips
The growth of the microchip industry in the Netherlands and the rest of the European Union helps create jobs. For example, in factories that make microchips or at companies that make innovative products with microchips.
This growth can also help the climate transition: microchips are also used in electric cars, wind turbines and solar panels. If a large number of microchips can be developed and made in the European Union, it is easier for Dutch companies to obtain them than if they have to come from some place far away.
Investing in innovative projects
To continue to grow the microchip industry, the Netherlands is making agreements with other countries, for instance through the European Chips Act. It is also investing in innovative projects dedicated to making or further developing microchips. One way this is being done is through the National Growth Fund.