Commission and India sign agreement on semiconductors

The co-chairs of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC), Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Vice-President Věra Jourová, held a stock-taking call with their Indian counterparts – Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal to weigh up the work done under the EU-India TTC so far, and lay the ground for the next Ministerial meeting.

They welcomed the agreement between the EU and India on a Memorandum of Understanding on semiconductors. It was signed by Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal market, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India. This agreement sets out how the EU and India will cooperate to build robust semiconductor supply chains and work together on innovation.

Under this Memorandum, the EU and India intend to:

• Share experiences, best practices and information on our respective semiconductors ecosystems;
• Identify areas for collaboration in research, development and innovation among universities, research organisations and businesses;

• Promote skills, talent and workforce development for the semiconductors industry and facilitate collaboration via the organisation of workshops, partnerships and the promotion of direct investments;

• Ensure a level playing field in the sector, including by sharing information on granted public subsidies.

The Chip Act to secure EU digital sovereignty

Next Steps

Both partners will continue meeting regularly and report under the TTC. The next TTC Ministerial Meeting is planned for early 2024 in India.

Background

The partnership with India is one of the most important relationships for the EU and strengthening this partnership, through initiatives like the TTC, is a priority.

The first TTC Ministerial Meeting was held on 16 May 2023 in Brussels and follows the launch on 6 February 2023 and the announcement by President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on 25 April 2022 in New Delhi.

The EU-India TTC is the second such bilateral forum for the EU and the first one established with any partner for India. The EU and the US launched a TTC in June 2021. It complements the Digital Partnerships already launched with Asian partners as part of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

More Information: European Commission