Discussion about EU Security through the lens of semiconductor industry

The much discussed topic of semiconductor manufacturing was discussed on June 7th at the event “From the Chip Shortage to the EU Chip Act – EU Security through the lens of semiconductors”. The panellists were Prof. Sandy Chou, currently a Fulbright researcher at Palacký University in the Czech Republic, and Dr. Donatas Murauskas of the VU Law Faculty.

Members of the university community heard important insights about the economic and political specificities of microchip manufacturing. Prof. S. Chou particularly highlighted the security of Taiwan’s developing technology, which is threatened by China’s use of microchips for espionage – both private and state importance information gathering. According to S. Chou, every Chinese company is sonected to the state and due to this reason its technology can be used in the war industry. Therefore, all information relating to semiconductor production is carefully guarded.

In view of the need to create a counterweight to Chinese industry, Taiwan has decided to share knowledge of semiconductor production with the USA and European countries. The professor believes that by cooperating, democracies will be able to compete successfully with China and thus be more self-sufficient.

The discussion focused on the geopolitics of chipmaking, the complexities of cooperation between Western partners in the chip industry, and the impact of the new EU Chip Act on the autonomy of countries in the chip industry. At the end of the discussion, Professor Chou acknowledged that the desire of the US and EU Member States to counterbalance chip production capacity in other countries leads to some competition, but that there are positive signs for the smaller Eastern and Central European countries, including the Czech Republic and Lithuania, in this industry.