Pillar III of the European Chips Act establishes a coordination mechanism between the Member States and the Commission to strengthen collaboration on monitoring and crisis response.
Overview of Pillar III coordination mechanism
Monitoring
- Strategic mapping
- Early-warning indicators
- Key market actors
- Risk mitigation
Crisis response
- Activation of the crisis stage
- Emergency toolbox
- Information gathering
- Priority-rated orders
- Common purchasing
Governance
- European Semiconductor Board
Monitoring activities
The Commission, in consultation with the European Semiconductor Board, regularly monitors the semiconductor value chain to identify possible disruptions.
This monitoring foresees:
- A strategic mapping of the EU’s semiconductor sector, including for example key products and critical infrastructures, main user industries and key segments of the semiconductor supply chain as well as dependencies on third countries and skill needs;
- A monitoring of early warning indicators resulting from the strategic mapping;
- Member States’ reporting on the state of activities of key market actors in their territory;
- Best practices for preventive risk mitigation and increased transparency in the semiconductor sector.
In scope of the monitoring activities, the Commission, in consultation with the European Semiconductor Board (ESB), has produced the following key reports:
- Semiconductor in the EU. State of play, future trends and vulnerabilities of the semiconductor supply chain, 2023. This JRC technical report is focused on the supply chain of semiconductor products and identifies the EU stance in the global supply chain, its dependency on non-EU products and technologies and provides a non-exhaustive overview of its vulnerabilities, discussing the challenges of listing a complete set of dependencies. It fulfils part of the requirements of Article 19 of the Chips Act (strategic mapping).
- The EC consultation on the semiconductors’ value chain, 2023. JRC Technical Report with the findings of the survey to companies (suppliers and end-users in the semiconductors value chain). In October 2022, the EU Commission conducted a consultation with companies involved in the European semiconductor value chain. The purpose was to gather information about companies' characteristics, their position in the value chain, dependencies on specific regions, and any shortages or bottlenecks they experienced in the previous year.
- Applying the SCAN methodology to the Semiconductor Supply Chain, 2023. JRC Technical report with results of the applications of SCAN methodology to a basket of 74 products traded in different segments of the semiconductor supply chain, from raw materials to the final products of the chain. The SCAN (“Supply Chain Alert Notification”) methodology has been developed to report signs of distress in supply chains relying on trade data. This methodology is based on a set of structural indicators to assess the ex-ante systemic risk of disruptions, and on high-frequency indicators detecting price increases and/or sizeable reductions in traded volumes. The JRC has developed a SCAN dashboard for semiconductors, which helps to identify upstream possible issues in the supply chain.
- A methodological toolbox to monitor the semiconductors’ supply-chain, 2024. This JRC technical report presents a set of structural indicators and real-time monitoring tools for the monitoring of the semiconductor supply chain in the framework of Pillar III. While each indicator or tool alone can give only a partial picture of the supply chain, their combined use could enhance the EU's capability to understand supply chain disruptions and enable a more punctual analysis of disaster impacts of some types of supply shocks.
- EU’s strengths and weaknesses in the global semiconductor sector, 2025. This JRC technical report presents an in-depth analysis of the semiconductor sector to identify potential EU strengths and weaknesses, to understand the current state and grasp potential future trajectory of the EU's semiconductor sector. It fulfils part of the requirements of Article 19 of the Chips Act (strategic mapping).
- Economic analysis of the EU and International semiconductor ecosystem, 2024. This report, delivered by the EU funded project ICOS, fulfils part of the requirements of Article 19 of the Chips Act (strategic mapping).
Moreover, a semiconductor alert system was set up to allow stakeholders to report semiconductor supply chain disruptions.
Crisis stage and emergency toolbox
In front of evidence of serious disruptions in the semiconductors value chain, preventing the supply, repair and maintenance of essential products used by critical sectors, the crisis stage should be triggered. During the crisis stage, the Commission intensifies the coordination with the European Semiconductor Board and can decide to enact one or more of the following emergency tools:
Information gathering
Mandatory requests to provide the Commission with information that is necessary to assess the nature of a shortage or identify mitigation measures.
Common purchasing
The Commission acts as central purchasing body on behalf of Member States to procure products for critical sectors.
Priority rated orders (PROs)
Obligation for certain manufacturers to accept and prioritize orders to supply to critical sectors, subject to strict conditions and safeguards.
Critical sectors are considered: energy; transport; banking; financial market infrastructure; health; drinking water; waste water; digital infrastructure; public administration; space; production, processing and distribution of food; defence; security.
The European Semiconductor Board
The governance mechanism of the European Chips Act is ensured by the European Semiconductor Board (ESB), which includes representatives of the Member States and is chaired by the Commission. These are listed in the Register of Commission Expert Groups and Other Similar Entities
The Board builds up on the work initiated by the European Semiconductor Expert Group established by the Commission Recommendation 2022/210.
The ESB provides the Commission with advice, assistance, and recommendations across the three Pillars of action:
- It advices on the Initiative to the Public Authorities Board of the Chips Joint Undertaking (Pillar I);
- It is consulted for the decisions of the Commission to grant the status of IPF and OEF (Pillar II);
- It is responsible for the monitoring and crisis response activities mentioned on this page (Pillar III).
Main content on the Chips Act
The European Chips Act will boost Europe’s technological sovereignty, competitiveness, resilience...