HERA launches first work plan 13

policy will continue to enhance a fair and sustainable development in all EU regions, while supporting the green and digital transition through: A comprehensive and targeted approach to development: funding, governance, consistency and synergies with national policies; Placebased, multilevel and partnership-led policies, tailoring its support to most vulnerable territories; Continued adaptability to emerging and unexpected challenges.

Next steps

The 8th Cohesion Report will feed the discussions at the upcoming Cohesion Forum (on 17-18 March), which brings together representatives of EU institutions, national, regional and local authorities from all Member States, social and economic partners, non-governmental organisations and academia. The Forum will debate how Cohesion policy can ensure that no region is left behind in the ongoing structural changes, and that all regions can reap the benefits of the green and digital transitions.

Background

Every three years, the Commission publishes a report on the economic, social, and territorial cohesion in the EU, presenting the progress and the EU's role as a driver for regional development. It analyses the evolution of cohesion in the EU according to a wide range of indicators, such as prosperity, employment, education levels, and accessibility and governance. On the basis of facts and figures, the Report offers a snapshot of the state and evolution of EU regions' development, and the challenges they are facing. The Report assesses whether disparities between regions have decreased, who is leading and who needs to catch up in innovation, employment or institutional capacity, for example. It also shows where regions stand in the green and digital transition and who needs further support. A clearer picture of what has been achieved and what still needs to be done in the 2021-2027 programming period will guide EU policies and investments to help regions achieve a balanced and sustainable long-term growth.

4. Digital sovereignty: Commission proposes Chips Act

The Commission proposes a comprehensive set of measures to ensure the EU's security of supply, resilience and technological leadership in semiconductor technologies and applications.

The European Chips Act will bolster Europe's competitiveness, resilience and help achieve both the digital and green transition. Recent global semiconductors shortages forced factory closures in a wide range of sectors from cars to healthcare devices. In the car sector, for example, production in some Member States decreased by one third in 2021. This made more evident the extreme global dependency of the semiconductor value chain on a very limited number of actors in a complex geopolitical context. But it also illustrated the importance of semiconductors for the entire European industry and society. The EU Chips Act will build on Europe's strengths – world-leading research and technology organisations and networks as well as host of pioneering equipment manufacturers – and address outstanding weaknesses. It will bring about a thriving semiconductor sector from research to production and a resilient supply chain. It will mobilise more than €43 billion euros of public and private investments and set measures to prevent, prepare, anticipate and swiftly respond to any future supply chains disruption, together with Member States and our international partners. It will enable the EU to reach its ambition to double its current market share to 20% in 2030. The European Chips Act will ensure that the EU has the necessary tools, skills and technological capabilities to become a leader in this field beyond research and technology in design, manufacturing and packaging of advanced chips, to secure its supply of semiconductors and to reduce its dependencies. The main components are:  The Chips for Europe Initiative will pool resources from the Union, Member States and third countries associated with the existing Union programmes, as well as the private sector, through the enhanced “Chips Joint Undertaking” resulting from the strategic reorientation of the existing Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking. €11 billion will be made available to strengthen existing research, development and innovation, to ensure the deployment of advanced semi-conductor tools, pilot lines for prototyping, testing and experimentation of new