Europe’s semiconductor sovereignty debate has long focused on fabs, chip design, and industrial competitiveness. Initiatives like the European Chips Act and national strategies emphasize silicon manufacturing capacity, billion-euro cleanrooms, and cutting-edge lithography. Yet while the continent invests heavily in chip production, it often overlooks the materials that make these technologies possible. Gallium and germanium, two obscure but critical elements, reveal one of Europe’s most pressing and under-acknowledged strategic weaknesses.
Small Volumes, Outsized Impact
Unlike copper, nickel, or lithium, gallium and germanium are low-volume commodities. They rarely appear in headlines or political speeches. But their strategic importance is enormous. These elements are essential feedstocks for compound semiconductors, optoelectronics, photonics, high-frequency communications, radar systems, and advanced defence platforms. Without reliable access, Europe’s semiconductor ambitions, defence capabilities, and next-generation technologies could falter.
Both gallium and germanium are predominantly by-products of zinc and aluminum production, meaning their availability is tied to the economics of unrelated industries. More critically, refining and conversion are highly concentrated in a few jurisdictions that have demonstrated a willingness to use export controls as strategic leverage. Europe currently lacks domestic refining capacity, leaving its semiconductor ecosystem structurally exposed. Investing billions in chip fabs does not mitigate this vulnerability—chips cannot function without the materials they require.
Diversifying suppliers helps, but true sovereignty is determined at the midstream, where materials are refined, purified, and transformed into technologically usable forms. Europe must develop refining infrastructure for gallium and germanium within its borders. Autarky is not required, but reliable, sovereign processing nodes are essential to ensure supply continuity for semiconductors, defence electronics, aerospace, and advanced communication systems.
South-East Europe: The Industrial Advantage
South-East Europe (SEE) offers a compelling solution. The region provides:
-
Skilled workforce adaptable to advanced metallurgical and chemical processes
-
Cost-effective and operationally realistic industrial environments
-
Regulatory alignment with European standards and political stability
-
Integration into Europe’s economic and security perimeter
SEE can host secure gallium and germanium refining hubs, supplying Europe’s semiconductor and defence industries without reliance on external political or industrial actors.
Because gallium and germanium originate as industrial by-products, Europe must engineer systematic recovery from existing industrial streams. This approach transforms potential waste into strategic resources, creating resilient, circular supply chains. Stockpiling further reinforces resilience, offering manageable reserves to mitigate sudden disruptions or geopolitical leverage.
Specialized refining requires sustained capital, technical expertise, and clear policy support. Europe must coordinate public and private investment, linking industrial strategy with long-term procurement, de-risked financing, and strategic planning. Only this combination ensures that refiners operate efficiently, reliably, and in alignment with Europe’s broader semiconductor ecosystem.
European refining must lead in transparency, sustainability, and environmental compliance. Facilities should be designed to global best practices from the outset, combining strategic autonomy with responsible industrial development.
The Sovereignty Imperative
Gallium and germanium may lack political glamour, but they are foundational to Europe’s semiconductor and defence future. Without control over these materials, investments in advanced chips and fabs remain dependent on external actors. Sovereignty is not built at the point of consumption or chip fabrication—it is built where raw materials are transformed into technological capability.
Europe faces a choice: treat these critical elements as strategic assets or continue to build technological sovereignty on fragile foundations. Gallium and germanium are not just materials—they are strategic signals. Control them, and Europe strengthens its autonomy. Leave them outside European control, and every investment in semiconductor leadership remains conditional.
