29th September 2025
Today, Peter Burke TD, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Enterprise, alongside his EU ministerial colleagues, formally endorsed the Declaration of the European Semiconductor Coalition (Semicon Declaration).
Recognising the strategic importance of semiconductors for the EU’s competitiveness and resilience, a coalition of EU Member States drafted the Semicon Declaration which sets out a common position aimed at strengthening EU semiconductor policy with a particular focus on shaping the upcoming revision of the European Chips Act (Chips Act 2.0).
The Declaration was formally handed over to the European Commission this morning on the sidelines of the Competitiveness Council, in the presence of representatives from all EU Member States and the industry.
Minister Burke said:
“This morning I am proud to stand with my European colleagues in endorsing the Declaration of the European Semiconductor Coalition. And I join with them in calling for a revitalised European Chips Act to secure Europe’s place at the forefront of the global semiconductor industry.
This is Europe’s moment to align national ambitions with a shared vision: to build a semiconductor ecosystem which secures our sovereignty, drives innovation while ensuring prosperity for generations to come.
Ireland is fully committed to this vision. Through our national semiconductor strategy, “Silicon Island”, we are expanding manufacturing, boosting R&D, developing talent, and building robust supply chains to ensure Ireland plays its part for Europe’s ambitions.
Ireland strongly supports this Declaration and thanks our Dutch colleagues for their leadership. We look forward to working with the Commission, industry and our research performing organisations to deliver a European Chips Act 2.0 which guarantees Europe’s technological future.”
The Declaration very much aligns with the key objectives of Silicon Island: Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy. These include:
- Building a stronger leadership position in Europe to become a pivotal player in global chip manufacturing, research and innovation.
- Leveraging existing expertise and foster a thriving ecosystem and competitive offering that will continue to attract significant strategic investment, and one that attracts, trains and nurtures high-quality talent.
- Building on our strong reputation for semiconductor manufacturing.
- Promoting Ireland on a global stage as a prime destination for investment.
- Fostering start-ups as a byproduct of continued innovation investment.
- Establishing Ireland as a global research and innovation leader across the semiconductor value chain and in the application of semiconductors in the green and digital transitions.
- Engaging at EU level throughout the implementation of the ambitious targets of the European Chips Act, as well as actively contributing to development of the European Chips Act 2.0 and via future EU Framework Programmes.
This fresh impetus promises to build on the positive work undertaken by Ireland to date in this regard, with the launch of I-C3 our National Competence Centre and over €70 million invested in Tyndall National Institute's EU pilot lines.
Notes for Editors:
The European Semiconductor Coalition is an alliance of all EU member states launched in March 2025 with the express purpose of securing and strengthening Europe's semiconductor ecosystem.
To this end, the Coalition has drafted a Semicon Declaration which calls on the European Commission to pursue three key objectives in the revision of the European Chips Act:
- Prosperity: strengthen the European semiconductor ecosystem to generate economic and societal value.
- Indispensability: maintain and enhance leadership in critical points of the value chain.
- Resilience: ensure capacity, supply chain stability and technological autonomy.
Moreover, the Declaration identifies five policy priorities:
- Ecosystem: strengthen collaboration among industry, research, SMEs, startups.
- Investment: align EU and national funding; accelerate approvals for strategic projects and mobilise private capital.
- Skills: build a robust European talent pipeline in semiconductor technologies.
- Sustainability: promote green, energy-efficient, and circular semiconductor manufacturing.
- International Partnerships: collaborate with like-minded global partners while protecting European strategic autonomy.
Launched by Minister Burke in May 2025, Silicon Island: Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy, fulfils a commitment in the Programme for Government. The vision guiding the Strategy is to build upon and grow Ireland’s existing strengths and to position Ireland as an international leader in semiconductors. It includes a suite of deliverables owned by DETE, the Enterprise Agencies, DFHERIS and Tyndall National Institute which are centred on three strategic workstreams: Building on our Strong Ecosystem; Developing Skills and Harnessing Existing Talents; Identifying and Seizing Opportunities.
The European Chips Act is an EU strategy that entered into force on September 21, 2023, to strengthen Europe's semiconductor ecosystem, increase its technological leadership, and reduce reliance on external chip supplies. It focuses on three main pillars: increasing funding for research and innovation through the Chips for Europe Initiative, building new manufacturing capacity with integrated "first-of-a-kind" facilities, and establishing a crisis response mechanism for supply chain disruptions. It is currently under review with a public consultation in place until 28 November 2025.
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