The European Commission gathers in Brussels the representatives of the first 5 Pilot Lines of Europe
Valerio Pruneri, director of the Pilot Line PIXEurope, attends the event in Brussels to present the recently approved initiative to all currently operating pilot lines
The European Commission hosted a ceremonial event to mark the launch of the first five pilot lines under the Chips Joint Undertaking Initiative. The event brought together Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, leading representatives from research and technology organizations driving the pilot lines, the Executive Director of the Chips Joint Undertaking and the representatives of the different pilot lines from the Member States, including Valerio Pruneri (ICFO), director of the pilot line PIXEurope, imec’s CEO Luc Van den hove, director of the pilot line NanoIC, François Jacq (CEA-Leti), director of the pilot line FAMES, Albert Heuberger (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft), representative of the pilot line APECS, and Stefano Fabris (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), representative of the pilot line WBG (Wide Band Gap).
The event took place on January 16, 2025, at the European Commission headquarters in Berlaymont, Brussels. The celebration marked the launch of the first five European Pilot lines which aim to bridge the gap between research innovation and industrial-scale manufacturing, as well as position Europe as a prosperous region and leading ecosystem for the chips and semiconductor industry, in alignment with the European Chips Act's strategy.
The pilot lines are supported by a total of EUR 3.7 billion in funding, comprising contributions from the European Union through the Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programmes, as well as commensurate investments from participating Member States. Focusing on five key areas, these lines will act as collaborative hubs for research institutions, academia, and industry. They will provide open access to state-of-the-art research facilities, accelerating experimentation, process development, and validation of cutting-edge semiconductor technologies. This effort is designed to foster technological capacity, strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness, and drive innovation across diverse sectors.