A Geoeconomic Fix? European Industrial Policy on Semiconductors Amidst Global Competition

Abstract This article observes that state actors in the emerging geoeconomic order are increasingly intervening in value chains that are politically regarded as strategic, with the aim of anchoring production capacities in their own territory. Drawing on David Harvey's concept of the ‘spatial fix’ and modifying it for the geoeconomic constellation, the article describes this phenomenon as a ‘geoeconomic fix’. However, this geoeconomic fix can only be achieved in co‐operation with industrial actors that possess strategic capabilities and technological know‐how. In a case study of European semiconductor policy from 2012 to 2023, the contribution traces changes in European industrial policy. Using process tracing, the article analyses key documents and statements from European Union (EU) institutions and industry actors. The results demonstrate that the geoeconomization of European semiconductor policy is accompanied by an increasing political focus on the spatial reorganization of the semiconductor value chain. The European semiconductor industry is driving this geoeconomization.