Europe shifts from lofty ambitions to deliverables at EFECS 2025 – pilot lines, competence centres and cross-border collaboration emerge as practical outputs. The focus is on areas where Europe can lead, strengthening semiconductor competitiveness while Malta showcases unique capabilities and ecosystem value.

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The European Forum for Electronic Components and Systems (EFECS) returned on 3–4 December 2025, this time in Malta and with a noticeably different tone. Under the banner Accelerate Innovation: Building European Competitiveness, the forum reflected a shift from ambition to execution, showcasing early, tangible results emerging from the Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) and the EU Chips Act – and signalling a more focused European approach to competitiveness built on strengths rather than scale alone.

After years of planning and design, the Chips Act – the European plan to boost chip research, manufacturing and supply – and its related programmes have begun to bear fruit: pilot lines, competence centres, a design platform and quantum projects are now up and running. Speakers from across industry, government and research emphasised that Europe is moving from intent to implementation.

The geopolitical context framed the event. Silvio Schembri, Malta’s Minister for Industry, argued that chips have become the “new oil” in economic and strategic terms. For Malta, hosting EFECS is both a signal and a deliberate investment choice, supported by such initiatives as the Malta Semiconductor Competence Centre and expanding links with research and industry. Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela highlighted that semiconductors already represent more than one-fifth of Malta’s exports and around 6 percent of GDP. In his view, the country is ready to play a meaningful role in Europe’s semiconductor agenda.

Abela and others stressed the need for the next phase of policy – Chips Act 2 – to be future-proof and streamlined. Via video link, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, pointed to geopolitical pressures and trade frictions, warning that Europe’s global market share of some 13 percent is not enough. There was broad acknowledgement that the first Chips Act has created momentum; the second will need to sharpen focus, reduce procedural friction and support project continuity.

Accelerate innovation – Building European competitiveness

The opening panel set the stakes. The Chips Act came into force during a period of increasing geopolitical turmoil, while the US, China and others are escalating investment and industrial policies. Arian Zwegers from the European Commission noted that the review of the Act, now under way, must account for this changed context. His view was that sovereignty is not isolation; Europe must reduce critical dependencies without pursuing an unworkable end-to-end value chain.

From industry, the message was similar. Laurent Filipozzi of STMicroelectronics described a global footprint that mixes front-end design, testing and packaging in Europe and back-end manufacturing in Asia, while pointing to rising investment in capacities in Europe. He argued that manufacturing competitiveness will increasingly depend on automation, robotics and advanced digital factory systems – areas where Europe is strong. While sustainability is not a constraint but “an enabler of business performance”.

Markus Ulm, Senior Vice President at Robert Bosch and Chair of the EPoSS industry association, underscored the deeply interconnected nature of the semiconductor value chain. Design may happen in Europe, IP in the US, and manufacturing in Asia, he noted, making full end-to-end sovereignty unrealistic without severe cost penalties. EPoSS, which represents Europe’s smart systems and semiconductor stakeholders and co-shapes the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda feeding into Chips JU, advocates a pragmatic path: maintaining global collaboration while strengthening Europe’s footprint through targeted investment, strategic partnerships and smart industrial policy.

**Strategy in the face of geopolitical headwinds **

Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni of Valeo took the discussion further. Given current geopolitical headwinds, he warned that 2030 ambitions will not be met if Europe continues on the same trajectory. In his view, Europe needs to be pragmatic, build alliances and foster innovation rather than replicate the models of others. He pointed to examples in electrification where European ingenuity is already delivering pioneering solutions, such as rare-earth-free electric motors. Policy tools like IPCEI were described as essential for industrial development, and 2026 will be a pivotal year, setting the stage for Chips Act 2 and decisions on the next round of large-scale projects. “Think global, act local,” was his message.

The discussion converged on several points: balanced partnerships rather than decoupling, a realistic approach to strategic autonomy and the need for procedural simplification. Frédérique Le Grevès of STMicroelectronics emphasised the capital-intensive nature of the industry and the importance of a level global playing field. Stefan Finkbeiner, Chair of the Chips JU Board, argued that sovereignty means strengthening Europe’s position by leveraging interdependence, not dismissing it.

How Europe can take a quantum leap

The discussion reinforced a broader narrative that has matured over the past two years. Europe’s goal is not to catch up everywhere but to build competitiveness where it can plausibly lead. Its strengths lie in advanced materials, innovative packaging, design ecosystems, specialised manufacturing niches, edge-AI architectures and quantum computing.

This was echoed by Lars Reger of NXP who outlined Europe’s established foothold in areas such as automotive, industrial automation and secure embedded systems. He described a transition toward “responsible robots” that sense, think, connect and act – positioning Europe to leverage its existing strengths. Outi Reentilä from IQM pointed to the quantum opportunity as an area where Europe can take the lead, provided industrialisation pathways are robust.

**Delivering on the promise: pilot lines, competence centres, design platforms **

Providing the most concrete evidence of delivery, Zwegers reported that roughly 85 percent of the EUR 3 billion Chips JU budget is committed. Competence centres now exist in all 27 Member States plus Norway, working on technology transfer, training and industrial access. The design platform was soft-launched just before the event; its role will be to reduce cost barriers for start-ups and SMEs and encourage growth in Europe’s fabless sector. Six quantum projects have been selected, establishing early-stage industrialisation pathways.

Patrick Bressler from Fraunhofer gave a detailed overview of the five pilot lines – spanning advanced packaging, wide bandgap materials and integrated photonics. Pilot lines are structured to provide pre-competitive collaboration, validating processes before scale-up. He emphasised the imperative for energy efficiency, intensified by AI workloads. A Europe-wide RESOLVE initiative aims for a tenfold improvement in energy efficiency by 2032.

Ina Sebastian from Infineon focused on industrial adoption. Her message was that Europe excels in research but must improve knowledge transfer, which can become even better through Chips 2. She argued for earlier collaboration and deeper involvement of industry in pilot-line planning and closer alignment with industrial demand.

Competence centres, described by Regis Hamelin of Blumorpho and aCCCess coordinator, are now “open for business”. Their roles include skills development, access to expertise, support for investment decisions and engagement with venture capital. Collaboration between centres will be essential to avoid fragmentation. “Think big,” he exhorted.

On the design platform, Romano Hoofman from imec outlined the intent to grow chip design in Europe by lowering technical and financial barriers. The value proposition is aimed squarely at SMEs and start-ups, including mentoring and pitch readiness to attract investment. The quantum pilot lines, discussed by Pekka Pursula of VTT, aim to build a stable and scalable technology base. Europe, he argued, can compete and be world leaders provided industrialisation begins early.

Malta’s strategic role

Several commentators highlighted Malta as an example of what smaller Member States can contribute. Abela and Schembri linked national actions – including establishing a competence centre, supporting manufacturing and integrating research – with EU-level strategy. Malta’s approach illustrates that participation in the semiconductor ecosystem is not confined to large economies.

Shifting the narrative

EFECS 2025 demonstrated a shift from architecture to execution. The underlying narrative is not about replicating large-scale fabs elsewhere, but about building leadership where Europe has genuine strengths: specialised technologies, advanced materials, packaging, design ecosystems, emerging quantum capabilities and industrial automation.

The first phase of the Chips Act has delivered structures and instruments. The second phase will need to improve procedural efficiency, deepen collaboration and maintain global partnerships while strengthening Europe’s footprint. The stakes are high, but the direction is clearer than a year ago: Europe is picking its own lane of differentiated leadership to ensure its strategic imperatives.

This article was written by Keir Bonine, Brussels-based media consultant and business writer.