CHIPDIPLO Eindhoven Dialogue: Strategic Autonomy or Strategic Indispensability?

On June 26, 2025, the CHIPDIPLO consortium hosted its first closed-door dialogue at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven — a dynamic and fast-growing hub at the heart of the Netherlands’ thriving semiconductor industry. The dialogue was organized by the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS), with the support of our  local partner, Brainport Development. 

This event gathered around fifty industry executives from across the European semiconductor ecosystem, along with leading experts from Europe, East Asia and the United States, to examine a defining question for the EU’s industrial strategy: "Strategic Autonomy or Strategic Indispensability? Identifying the EU’s Semiconductor Lodestar."

What strategic vision should guide the next phase of European policy-making in support of our semiconductor industry? Although the term is absent from the EU Chips Act, strategic autonomy has recently gained traction in European debates in the context of the questions related to the future of US commitment to the European security order. However, there remains a lack of consensus among European decision-makers on the meaning and implications of this notion. At the same time, the  concept of indispensability has recently become more prominent in European debates. While autonomy centers on self-reliance and insulation from external shocks, indispensability emphasizes influence—leveraging one’s position to shape outcomes. The EU Chips Act reflects elements of both logics, and navigating this balance is now an emerging challenge for European industrial and security policy, especially as a next phase of support for the semiconductor industry is in preparation in Europe.

The CHIPDIPLO dialogue in Eindhoven was designed to offer participants a scenario-based exercise centered on these two concepts so that each participant develops a clearer vision of the longer-term strategic consequences of Europe’s policy choices, and changes in the international environment. The approach called for an honest reality check on Europe’s strengths and constraints and two guiding questions: what should we want politically? What is realistically possible? 

Participants assessed the EU’s strengths and weaknesses in the semiconductor sector. Specific attention was paid to value chain bottlenecks, overdependencies, vulnerabilities and third country industrial policies that could threaten the EU’s semiconductor supply.The discussions generated a broad range of ideas and actionable recommendations on public policy and industrial best practices.

The Chips Diplomacy Support Initiative is an 18-month project led by Institut Montaigne (Paris) with the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS, Bratislava), the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS, Brussels) and the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS, Paris and Brussels), and co-funded by the European Union. 

This project aims to help structure European foreign policy in the semiconductor sector, and contributes to the broader strategic objective of constructing a European economic foreign policy. It focuses on strengthening risk management for this strategic industry, promoting a more coordinated approach among the 27 EU Member States, and expanding networks of expertise with key international partners. 

Follow the Chips Diplomacy Support Initiative LinkedIn account to stay updated on the consortium’s activities and projects.