The EU joins the chip competition with Asia with an offer of 42 billion euros.

On Tuesday, the European Union will present a plan to raise tens of billions of euros to grow European semiconductor production and lessen the bloc’s reliance on Asia in the digital realm.

Following the shock of the pandemic, which cut off supplies, halted industries, and emptied stores, semiconductors, often known as chips, have become a strategic priority in Europe and the United States.

Taiwan, China, and South Korea dominate chip manufacture, and the European Union’s 27 member states want more facilities and enterprises to join.

On Tuesday, Thierry Breton, the EU’s industry commissioner, would urge Europeans to be as bold as possible, mirroring similar plans in the United States, where the Biden administration is asking $52 billion from Congress.

The initiative, according to Breton, “would establish Europe as an industry leader while also providing us absolute control of our semiconductor supply chains,” during a visit of the IMEC chip research facility in Belgium on Monday.

“The EU will equip itself with the mechanisms to assure its security of supply, like the United States does for example,” he said in a separate briefing to reporters.

He went on to say, “Europe will remain an open continent, but on its own terms,” referring to a “paradigm shift” in Europe’s stance toward essential supplies like semiconductors.

If approved, the EU proposals may generate a total of 42 billion euros ($48 billion) from current EU budget funds and by loosening existing limitations on member state public subsidies.

The chip crusade’s primary goal will be to boost Europe’s semiconductor capacity from 10% of worldwide value now to 20% by 2030.

The concept will need to be accepted by EU member states and the European Parliament, where opinions would diverge between industrial heavyweights like Germany, France, and Italy and smaller countries concerned about shutting off vital supply networks with Asia.