10th of June event, Defence & Chips: Interdependent Value Chains for European Security
On Wednesday 10th of June, the Tampere Region EU Office organised, together with the states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Saxony, an event focused on defence and semiconductors. The event was highly successful, bringing together over 150 participants as well as a group of very high-level speakers and a panel discussion. The keynote speech was delivered by Pierre Chastanet, Head of Unit at DG-CONNECT, responsible for preparing the European Commission’s new semiconductor legislation, after which several experts in their respective fields gave presentations on a wide range of topics and finally discussed them in a panel. After the presentations, food and cocktails were served for networking.
Pierre Chastanet presenting the new semiconductor legislation
In his keynote speech, Chastanet presented the preparatory work of his unit on the new regulation. He aimed, for example, to clarify the Commission’s views especially on issues related to supply and demand, which have been prominent in discussions on the European semiconductor sector. After the keynote, the programme continued with expert presentations. Jens Drews from GlobalFoundries opened the presentations with a talk on the resilience of European chip manufacturing. Drews highlighted in particular manufacturing capacity in relation to the growing demand in the sector. This was followed by Dr Alexander Schrage, who presented the industrial competence of his region, North Rhine-Westphalia, in strengthening European defence. Professor Heidi Kuusniemi from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University examined in her speech the importance of space technology for Europe’s strategic autonomy. In her presentation, Kuusniemi emphasised especially the central role of chips in space-related activities.
After the expert presentations, the experts took part in a panel discussion where they discussed topics related to their presentations in an interactive manner. The panel discussion was introduced by Eeva Viinikka from Spinverse Ltd, who highlighted the importance of semiconductors in the defence industry. During the panel discussion, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions to the experts, and the event featured good questions and informative answers.
Dr Heinrich Klopp speaking during the panel discussion
Overall, the event was particularly successful. The regional offices brought together an excellent and complementary group of speakers, which provided the audience with interesting and timely perspectives on the European semiconductor sector. The participants were very pleased with the arrangements, and our office received positive feedback on the event. In addition to being a great success, the event demonstrated the importance of interregional cooperation in regional-level activities in Brussels. Through cooperation with the German states, it was possible to organise an event that would not have been possible at this scale and quality without collaboration. Furthermore, by working together, even smaller regions can better highlight their views and competences in an environment such as Brussels, where competition for visibility and influence is intense. For Tampere and Pirkanmaa, the event was significant, as it was part of the increasingly close cooperation between regions, which will hopefully bear fruit also in the future.
