Response to interpellation 2025/26:545 on Sweden's strategic position within semiconductors and advanced electronics
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD argues that the government has taken several measures to strengthen Sweden's position within semiconductors and advanced electronics 1. KD emphasizes that the research and innovation proposal, the industrial strategy, and the Vinnova mission constitute a clear strategy where semiconductors are a prioritized part 2 3. KD argues that investments in excellence clusters, test and demo environments, as well as innovation offices at educational institutions are concrete measures to bridge the gap between research and industry 3. KD argues that current investments lay the foundation for future export successes and jobs 1 2. KD argues that the reinforcement refers to practical support within company formation for researchers 3. KD considers that these areas are connected as part of an overall strategy 3. KD emphasizes that they want Sweden to believe in its own knowledge, research, and entrepreneurship 4. KD values the importance of research for Sweden and the world as well as the fight for freer entrepreneurship 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! We are rushing here on the day before Midsummer! Rashid Farivar has asked me what concrete measures, investments, and initiatives the government and I have taken nationally but also within the EU cooperation to strengthen Sweden's position within semiconductors and advanced electronics.
Rashid Farivar has also asked me about the government and I intend to present a national strategy or long-term action plan for specifically semiconductors and advanced electronics in order to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness, supply readiness, investments, and technological competence.
Finally, Rashid Farivar has asked me what measures the government and I intend to take to reduce the gap between world-class Swedish research and industrial commercialization so that more Swedish innovations within semiconductors and advanced electronics can be developed, produced, and create jobs in Sweden.
The Government has taken a number of measures in this area. In December 2024, the Government presented the research and innovation bill (prop. 2024/25:60), which, among other things, contains investments in strategically important technology. In June 2025, the Government decided on an industrial strategy. In the industrial strategy, one goal is that Sweden's technological leadership in strategic technology areas shall be strengthened.
In the research and innovation bill, funds were allocated for so-called excellence clusters to be carried out by the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova. Advanced digital technology, including semiconductors, is one of the strategic technology areas that the government identifies in a mandate to Vinnova.
Through the assignment to Vinnova, environments are created for collaboration-based research and innovation within advanced digital technology, including semiconductors, where industry and research work together to translate results into competitive innovations and products. As part of the excellence cluster assignment, Vinnova has also been tasked to continuously analyze Swedish areas of strength and needs within the strategic technology areas, including semiconductors.
The Government is taking further measures to strengthen the link between research and industrial commercialization. Through the research and innovation bill, investments are being made in verification as well as test and demonstration environments so that more research can be converted into new products and services.
The Government has also tasked Vinnova to co-finance and coordinate a Swedish participation in two important projects of common European interest, those sometimes called IPCEI: one for advanced semiconductors, IPCEI AST, and one for artificial intelligence, IPCEI AI.
Vinnova shall announce project funds based on the applications that have been previously approved. Vinnova shall also follow up on the projects' results and build up competence around the IPCEI instrument as a tool. We believe that a Swedish participation in these IPCEI projects contributes to the government's ambitions and objectives to develop Swedish positions of strength within strategically important technology areas.
Furthermore, the government has increased the budget funds for national co-financing for Swedish participation in the program for a Digital Europe, where co-investments are made in advanced digital technology such as supercomputers, AI, semiconductors and cybersecurity.
Advanced digital technology, including semiconductors, is crucial for securing Sweden's future as an advanced industrial nation. Through the investments currently being made in excellent research, in collaboration between academia and industry, and in an active Swedish participation in the common European initiatives, we are laying the foundation for more Swedish innovations to be able to grow into tomorrow's global export successes and create jobs here in Sweden.
Rashid Farivar (SD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking Minister for Energy and Industry Ebba Busch for the answer.
I welcome that the government has identified advanced digital technology, including semiconductors, as a strategic technology area. I also welcome the investments in excellence clusters, test and demonstration environments, as well as Sweden's participation in European collaborations, such as IPCEI AST, Advanced Semiconductor Technology, and the program for a digital Europe.
It is at the same time difficult not to note that the Minister's answer essentially describes various instruments and ongoing initiatives, while the central question in my interpellation actually remains unanswered. The question is, in fact, not whether Sweden has good research. We have had that for a long time.
If I may make a brief personal reflection, my own journey in Sweden is closely associated with this very area. In 2005, I began a master's program which was later followed by doctoral studies as a PhD student in semiconductor materials at Chalmers University of Technology. The Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, MC2, and its cleanroom environment have for a long time belonged to the leading research environments in Europe, both in terms of research and in terms of advanced instrumentation.
The question is also not whether there is competence. There is. The question is whether Sweden has a coherent plan for how we are to translate this competence into new companies, new investments, new export capabilities, and new jobs. There, the answer is still unclear.
Madam Speaker! When speaking with researchers, companies, and industry organizations, the same message comes up again and again. Sweden does not suffer primarily from a lack of academic excellence. Sweden suffers from a lack of coordination. We have strong research in Lund, at Chalmers, as I just mentioned, and at KTH. We have world-leading companies within telecommunications, defense, energy, and the automotive industry. We have a strong innovation climate, but we still lack a clear national direction.
Several other European countries have already developed national semiconductor strategies that bring together research, industry, skills supply, investments, and international cooperation into a common framework. Sweden has not yet done so, despite the fact that there are well-elaborated proposals on the table, such as the report The Invisible Gold.
This is particularly noteworthy because semiconductors and advanced electronics today are just as strategic as energy, transport, and digital infrastructure. They are a prerequisite for artificial intelligence, defense capability, electrification, data centers, telecommunication, and advanced industrial production.
Therefore, I want to ask the Minister: Does the Minister consider that the initiatives already presented constitute the government's semiconductor strategy? Or does the government intend to produce a unified national strategy that defines Sweden's long-term goals, such as the report The Invisible Gold, priorities and investments within semiconductors and advanced electronics?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I shall try to answer as directly as possible.
I am a big fan of clear packaging and giving things form and names. Here, it becomes almost a myriad, an entire ecosystem, which constitutes the strategy that has bearing on what Rashid Farivar asks about in his interpellation and now also further specifies in his post just now. But semiconductors are a designated strategic priority.
I mean that Sweden's problems over the last 10–15 years in the global competition have been the inability to dare to choose. Sweden has wanted to be involved a little everywhere, this because there is fundamentally a positive idea of equality here. All flowers shall be allowed to bloom. This has, however, meant that we have sometimes not pushed forward the excellence in certain areas that we could have been capable of having. Then we have sometimes stood too thin in terms of such competence that is completely crucial for other parts of our innovation cluster to move forward.
I want to highlight three parts in this post.
The first thing concerns the research and innovation bill. It is the foundation for what is to come. We have achieved a historic level increase with 6.5 billion until 2028. This constitutes the financial base for the continued work.
The second point concerns the industrial strategy, which of course is linked to this. From June 2025, we have stated the goal to strengthen Swedish technological leadership within central strategic technology areas. The strategy covers the entire chain from basic research to industrial commercialization, that is to say, precisely the phase where the interpellor identifies deficiencies.
The third thing I want to highlight is the Vinnova assignment that I also mentioned initially. Vinnova has identified six strategic technology areas where Sweden shall develop or build new competence and defend our position, of which advanced digital technology including semiconductors is one.
I mean that we have a clear strategy for this. But it does not live as a solitary thing, in its own little orbit, but is connected with other things so that we can utilize the strength we have had in Swedish industry and Swedish research until now.
Rashid Farivar (SD)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister for Energy and Business Ebba Busch for the answer.
I agree with the Minister, absolutely! But I want to continue on the question that perhaps worries the industry the most and which the Minister also mentioned, namely the gap between research and industrialization – something that is also clearly highlighted in the report Sweden’s National Semiconductor Strategy 2035.
In his response, the minister describes several initiatives aimed at strengthening innovation, commercialization, and industrialization. The problem is that many actors within the sector believe that is not where the real bottleneck lies. The challenge is to take the step from research results to industrial scaling. That is where many Swedish innovations get stuck today, and that is where Sweden risks losing both investments and jobs.
When companies reach the next development phase, they are often forced to look abroad to find capital, production capacity, pilot lines or industrial partners. The result is that the innovations are developed in Sweden but the value creation occurs somewhere else. That should concern us all.
Madam Speaker! Several representatives for both academia and industry also point out that Sweden lacks sufficiently strong structures to carry technologies from research to industrial implementation. They call for stronger coordination between universities, research institutes and the business sector as well as more long-term investments in research infrastructure. This is, of course, also something we have done and are doing during this parliamentary term.
One also points out that centers of excellence in themselves will not be sufficient. Excellence is not built through short-term project grants. Excellence is built through long-term perspective. It is about providing leading research environments with stable conditions over time and simultaneously creating the structures that allow innovations to actually grow into Swedish industry.
Madam Speaker! I also want to briefly touch upon Sweden's participation in IPCEI AST.
It is positive that the government is opening up for Swedish participation. But several actors within the sector have simultaneously stated – I have a letter here from Svensk Elektronik – that the information regarding the opportunities has not reached the entire ecosystem and that small and medium-sized enterprises have had difficulty participating on equal terms as larger actors.
If the goal is to build a robust national semiconductor ecosystem, new companies, smaller technology firms, and regional innovation environments must also be given the opportunity to contribute. To succeed, it requires not only funding but also that the tools are designed so that the entire ecosystem can participate and develop.
My question to the Minister is therefore: What concrete measures does the government intend to take to strengthen the coordination between academia, institutes, and industry, and to ensure that Sweden actually builds up the industrial capacity required for more innovations to be able to stay, grow, and create jobs here in the country? The question has also been put forward in the letter from Svensk Elektronik to Minister Ebba Busch.
(ANDRE VICE TALMANNEN: Actually, one should not bring and display props in the chamber. Those who are listening cannot see it.)
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! The letter that Rashid Farivar refers to has indeed been made public. This is open material that can be accessed afterwards if one wishes. This interpellation is also a way to raise the issue and spread the word to more people who need to hear it.
I will do my best to answer as concretely as possible.
The criticism that the interpellator highlights, that too few Swedish research results manage to take the step to production and more jobs in Sweden, truly describes a real challenge. I would say that it is precisely the phase that the government is now directing its efforts towards. It is about funded assignments, not just declarations of intent – many are the politicians who have stood here in the chamber and spoken good and beautiful words about this sector.
So what do we do then? I will raise three parts, as tightly as I can.
The first is the investment in excellence clusters for groundbreaking technology. It covers 2.5 million kronor and is designed precisely to help bridge the gap between academia and industry. The program is driven by Vinnova together with the Swedish Research Council. It concentrates resources and gathers the country's researchers across institutional boundaries, i.e., from different parts of the country, together with the business sector. Here, semiconductors are one of the prioritized areas. This is the first and most concrete thing I want to highlight.
The second is the appropriations for test and demo environments. It is quite unique, even in a European context, that we have such environments to that extent and in the way we do, which are also accessible even for smaller actors. We have tripled the appropriations for test and demo environments during the period, from approximately 30 million to now over 100 million.
These environments constitute the physical infrastructure where one can verify their technology and see how it can be scaled up under realistic conditions before moving to sharp industrial production, which requires a heavy investment. This has historically been one of the major bottlenecks for Swedish research results to move from paper to finished product. That is why it has been so important to triple the grants to this.
The third point concerns the innovation centers and the holding companies at the universities. They are also being reinforced with a focus – on what? Yes, on where the most research-based ideas have historically fallen through.
Regarding our previous interpellation, Madam Speaker, where we have attempted to evaluate and, on that basis, determine what we should use Swedish taxpayers' money for.
The reinforcement refers to practical support within company formation. If one is an excellent researcher, one is perhaps not necessarily best at starting a company. One should not need to be an expert on intellectual property protection or capital raising, but here we have made a clear prioritization.
These are not three independent areas, but they are connected and are part of an overall strategy within the area.
Rashid Farivar (SD)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister for Energy and Business Ebba Busch for the answer and the debate.
Just as the Minister mentioned, the ambition with this debate is to raise the issue because it is so important. All our technology in society and in industry is dependent on semiconductors.
I can say that the issue has been discussed twice in the chamber during this parliamentary term, and this is the second time.
It is still positive that the government has identified the area as strategically important and that more initiatives are now being implemented. My conclusion from this debate is that we need more than individual programs and projects. We need a long-term roadmap and better coordination between research, institutes, and industry. We need more investments in research infrastructure and skills supply. We need to specifically ensure that Swedish innovations are not only invented in Sweden but also developed and produced in Sweden and create jobs in Sweden.
Semiconductors are not just about technology, but they are also about competitiveness, supply readiness, national security, and future prosperity. Therefore, I hope that the government takes the views that have been put forward from both the industry and the research community and continues the good work of securing Sweden's position within semiconductors and advanced electronics.
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for Energy and Industry for a good debate and for the strong work she has performed during the mandate period.
I also want to wish the Minister a happy Midsummer and a really nice summer, with the opportunity for rest and recovery, especially with the children, before the election campaign that now awaits. Finally, I want to wish the Minister and the Kristdemokraterna good luck in the election on September 13, and also all other parties in the Swedish Riksdag.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I too would like to begin by thanking you for the interpellation.
Rashid Farivar, the government and I share the ambition that Sweden should dare to continue leading and dare to believe more in itself, its knowledge, the strength of the Swedish people and the strength of Swedish research and Swedish entrepreneurship. That is why we have pushed for and introduced the EU's regulation on semiconductors, the European Chips Act, and we have been an active part of the Commission's work with the semiconductor regulation 2.0 and the new IPCEI initiatives that we have discussed during the day.
I want to thank you for a useful and policy-oriented debate. Sweden needs more of that.
In conclusion, I would also like to thank Rashid Farivar for his great commitment in the chamber and the many interpellations debates we have had. It may be that we do not have time for any more interpellations before it is time for elections in Sweden, and in that case, I want to thank you for your commitment to research, freedom, and entrepreneurship. The research has become apparent in this interpellations debate and the many discussions we have had, but it also concerns Member Rashid Farivar's own testimony about the journey one can take and the great value in highlighting the completely invaluable that research represents for Sweden and for the world as a whole.
I have appreciated the debates and the commitment to the fight for the Swedish people's right to a freer everyday life and the fight for freedom for those on our land who still cannot live in a free and democratic country and for the power of a freer enterprise, which means that more can move from poverty to wealth. Thank you!
I wish Rashid Farivar great success in whatever he undertakes in the future.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.