India and EU Join Forces to Strengthen Semiconductor Supply Chain!

India and the European Union (EU) have strengthened their technology collaboration by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the semiconductor ecosystem on November 24. The initial agreement was signed by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and the EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton. Under the agreement, India and the EU will exchange experiences and best practices, and identify opportunities for collaboration to enhance the semiconductor ecosystem, among other objectives.

Vaishnaw announced at X and published, “India and EU sign MoU to deepen semiconductor ecosystem cooperation and improve semiconductor supply chain sustainability”.

According to the EU’s statement, the chairmen of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC), Vice-Chair Valdis Dombrovskis and Vice-Chair Vera Jourova held a situation review with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam. Jaishankar, Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to take stock of the work done so far by the EU-India TTC and lay the groundwork for the next ministerial meeting.

The inaugural ministerial meeting of the TTC was held in Brussels on 16 May 2023, after the official opening on 6 February 2023. The meeting was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra. Modi, April 25, 2022, in New Delhi.

India and EU sign memorandum of understanding on semiconductors

According to the EU statement, both partners intend to do the following in accordance with the memorandum of understanding:

• Share experiences, best practices and knowledge about our respective semiconductor ecosystems;
• Identify research, development and innovation cooperation areas between universities, research organizations and companies;
• Promote the development of semiconductor industry know-how, talent and workforce and facilitate cooperation by organizing workshops, partnerships and promoting direct investments;
• Ensuring a level playing field in the field, for example by sharing information on public subsidies granted.

As for next steps, India and the bloc will continue to meet regularly and report on developments under the TTC. The next TTC ministerial meeting is planned for early 2024 in India.