Advancing Electronics in Europe: Shaping the Industry Together in 2024

By Alison James, Senior Director, IPC European Government Relations

As we approach the end of the year, I want to take a moment to share some of the successes we achieved in European advocacy for electronics manufacturing this year. Thanks to tremendous collaboration, IPC and our partners navigated an extraordinary year marked by significant global changes, including a new European Commission and European Parliament, new National Governments in place and in transition, a pending new U.S. administration, and geopolitical and economic upheaval worldwide. 

The industry came together with a stronger, more unified voice for the electronics manufacturing sector, and we have been heard in Brussels and capitals across Europe. Here’s a quick recap of some of the highlights from this year in Europe:

• Heightening recognition by European policymakers: We ramped up our European-level engagement, holding numerous meetings with top policymakers to share our collective priorities. Coalition meetings were held with leaders including the Head of the Cabinet of Margrethe Vestager, now former Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Chief Economic Advisor to Charles Michel, former President of the European Council; and Members of the European Parliament. We also met the Advisor of Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium.
• Uniting behind a European Call to Action: A new IPC report, “Securing the European Union’s Electronics Ecosystem,” highlighted capacity and capability gaps in Europe’s PCB and electronics assembly needs and served as the backdrop for our industry-wide Call to Action for a European Silicon to Systems Electronics Manufacturing Strategy, co-signed by 59 European electronics companies, 17 trade associations across the EU and the European Space Agency. 
• Expanding the electronics conversation in Brussels: We worked with journalists, think tanks, and other key stakeholders to raise awareness of the electronics manufacturing industry's needs. Efforts were strategically aligned with broader discussions on EU industrial priorities and competitiveness, leveraging key milestones such as Mario Draghi's report on the Future of EU Competitiveness. IPC also partnered with the influential media site Euractiv to publish thought-provoking and impactful op-eds.

Growing our European voice online: With our new European LinkedIn and government pages, we’ve reached thousands of influential people in EU circles with compelling content and updates. We also produced two EU-focused videos that tell the stories of advanced packaging and silicon-to-systems. IPC President and CEO John W. Mitchell and I recently sat down to discuss how geopolitics and competitiveness are shaping the new EU term; this conversation is posted on our European government webpage. We continue to see steady growth and engagement with our online content. 

As much as we’ve accomplished, the work ahead is equally important. The new year will bring fresh challenges and opportunities, and together, we must ensure our industry’s voice remains loud and clear in Europe and beyond. We look forward to carrying on our momentum and making 2025 a successful year for Europe’s electronics manufacturers.