Source: Financial Times
The EU is moving beyond industrial policy rhetoric into legal mechanisms that could seize control of chipmaker operations—forcing companies to break existing contracts and redirect production to priority customers during crises. This reflects Europe's strategic vulnerability in semiconductors (where Taiwan and South Korea dominate) and a willingness to override property rights and commercial agreements when national security interests collide. Multinational manufacturers will now calculate regulatory risk in the EU differently. The mechanism also signals Europe's shift from market-driven solutions toward state intervention as a permanent feature of critical supply chains, likely prompting similar defensive measures from the US and Japan.