Chips Act 2.0: Europe’s second semiconductor push Business news | August 12, 2026 By Brian Tristam WilliamsThe EU’s first Chips Act was sold with a simple ambition: strengthen Europe’s semiconductor industry and raise its share of the global chip value chain to 20% by 2030. Chips Act 2.0 is therefore less a simple continuation of the original programme than an attempt to correct some of its weaknesses. Why Chips Act 2.0 changes courseThe roots of Europe’s semiconductor strategy pre-date the supply shortages that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the original Chips Act, Chips Act 2.0 has not arrived with a new headline funding figure comparable to the €43 billion promoted during the first programme. Chips Act 2.0 is, in several respects, an admission that the first Act confused an industrial ambition with a measurable outcome it did not have the resources to guarantee.