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On Sept. 17, the 2026 Electronics Day EMS Europe brought together executives, manufacturers, policymakers, and industry experts for a full day of discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing Europe’s electronics ecosystem.
Across four sessions, the conversation spanned the electronics value chain. It began with European resilience and competitiveness, moved into the latest EMS market outlook, examined the infrastructure behind the rapid expansion of AI, and concluded with the growing pressures affecting PCB materials and manufacturing capacity.
The topics varied, but the challenges were closely connected. Throughout the day, the conversation repeatedly returned to competitiveness, capacity, supply-chain visibility, investment and speed.
The day opened with remarks from Philippe Léonard, Global Electronics Association, and Frédérique Le Gres, president of FDeF, chair of the Strategic Committee for the Electronics Industry of France, president of STMicroelectronics France, and executive vice president Europe & France Public Affairs at STMicroelectronics.
Their welcome set the stage for a day focused on the future of Europe’s electronics industry and the collaboration needed across industry, associations, and policymakers to strengthen the European electronics ecosystem.
Session 1: Building a Resilient Electronics Ecosystem: Strategies, Investments and Policies Needed
What does a resilient European electronics ecosystem actually require?
Alison James, senior EU director, Government Relations, Global Electronics Association, opened the first session with the keynote, “Advocacy for a Resilient European Electronics Supply Chain.” This was followed by a panel moderated by Philip Stoten, Scoop, with Hans Petter Thomassen, Kitron; Stephane Klajzyngier, All Circuits; and Eric de Ponthaud, CSI-Cimulec.
The discussion demonstrated that resilience needs to be considered in the wider manufacturing ecosystem. Materials, machinery, know-how, predictable production, and competitiveness all emerged as important parts of the conversation. The panel also addressed the relationship between policy support and the ability of European manufacturers to compete effectively in a global market.
The scale of the challenge was evident in the discussion around PCBs. Europe was described during the session as accounting for only around 2% of global PCB production, while the discussion also highlighted dependencies surrounding materials and manufacturing capabilities.
Another important point was that increasing manufacturing capacity is not solely a matter of adding production lines. The discussion highlighted materials, working capital, and the surrounding supply ecosystem as factors that can determine how quickly additional production can actually be brought online.
Taken together, Session 1 presented resilience as more than localization. The discussion pointed toward the importance of capacity, competitiveness, materials, investment and expertise in sustaining production over time.
Session 2: Challenges and Market Uncertainty for European EMS Industry
From resilience, the conversation moved to the market itself: Is improvement becoming visible in European EMS?
Christoph Solka, Global Electronics Association, opened Session 2 with “EMS Mid-Year Update—Is Improvement Visible?,” followed by a panel moderated by Philip Stoten, Scoop, with Bo Lybaek, GPV International; Nicolas DENIS, Asteelflash; Bruno Picquart, Agon Electronics Group; and Arnaud Lesschaeve, Lacroix Electronics.
The market data presented during the session offered reasons for cautious optimism.
The European EMS companies covered by the study represented approximately €8.3 billion in revenue, with a 2026 revenue forecast of approximately €8.9 billion. First-half year-on-year growth stood at 0.3%, while participating companies expected 7.2% growth for the full year compared with 2025. The European book-to-bill ratio stood at 1.21.
But the discussion made clear that there is no single European market story.
Performance varies considerably between end markets. Stronger activity was discussed in areas including data centers, aerospace, and defense, while conditions elsewhere remain more challenging. The conversation also highlighted the importance of distinguishing revenue growth from underlying production activity. In an environment of higher component prices, growth measured in euros does not necessarily represent an equivalent increase in volumes or margins.
Order visibility was another important consideration. The panel discussed the challenge of distinguishing genuine demand from precautionary ordering intended to secure future supply, particularly as constraints return in parts of the market. Better visibility is important to avoid creating further inventory imbalances.
AI and hyperscaler demand also entered the discussion, both as a source of potential growth and as an additional source of pressure on the electronics supply chain. The session explored how Europe may benefit not only from server manufacturing itself but also from areas such as power and cooling infrastructure.
Overall, Session 2 presented a picture of cautious improvement rather than uniform recovery, with supply, pricing, and demand visibility continuing to shape the outlook.
Session 3: AI Infrastructure and Europe Electronics Supply Chain
The role of AI demand provided a natural transition into Session 3.
Léo Saint-Martin, Décision, opened with “Overview of the AI Hardware Electronics Ecosystem,” followed by a panel moderated by Stoten, with Alain Wilmouth, 2CRSI; Mikael Coffre, Alantys; Areti Iles, Telefonica; Jean-Francois Zoeller, Flex Group; and Vytautas Ilgunas, TLT PCB.
The session looked beyond AI models and processors to the physical infrastructure required to support their growth.
The discussion covered a value chain stretching from semiconductors and packaging through PCBs, server manufacturing, and system integration to power, cooling, data centers, cloud infrastructure, and software.
The presentation highlighted growth in European data-center capacity while also drawing attention to the difference between the scale of European demand and the share of value captured by European companies across several important hardware layers.
That led to a broader question for the discussion: As AI infrastructure expands, where in that value chain will Europe participate?
The session examined existing server manufacturing activity in several European countries and the relationship between regional manufacturing capacity and the growth of the European market. It also explored the importance of considering AI infrastructure as an end-to-end value chain rather than viewing semiconductors, servers, PCBs, power and other elements in isolation.
The physical scale involved was illustrated during the panel through an example of a large AI data center containing around 100,000 GPUs and requiring approximately 200,000 PCBs, including complex boards with 20 to 40 layers.
Session 3, therefore, broadened the AI conversation considerably. The discussion showed how the expansion of AI infrastructure is connected to an extensive physical ecosystem of PCBs, servers, power, cooling, materials, and manufacturing capacity.
Industrial Resilience in Practice: CSI-Cimulec
The afternoon programme also included a short film presented by Eric de Ponthaud, CSI-Cimulec, on the burn-down and rebuilding of the company's facility in Toulouse.
The film brought a real example of industrial disruption and rebuilding into a day in which resilience had been a recurring theme, before the programme moved into its final industry discussion.
Session 4: Allocation Over Price: Crisis, Consolidation and the Comeback of European PCBs?
The final session brought the conversation directly to PCB supply, materials, and manufacturing capacity.
Chris Nuttall, NCAB Group, opened with “PCB Supply Chain Outlook: Strategic Procurement in a Constrained PCB Market,” followed by a panel moderated by Stoten, with Thomas Michels, ILFA; Vincent Dronnet, Elvia Group; and Solka.
The session examined the pressure that growing demand for advanced electronics, including AI infrastructure, is placing on manufacturing capacity and material supply.
Importantly, the discussion indicated that these pressures do not necessarily remain confined to the most advanced technologies. As capacity shifts toward higher-end, low loss and low-Dk materials, constraints can also affect more standard materials. Laminates, prepregs, glass yarn, and copper foil were among the areas discussed, alongside the manufacturing equipment required to expand supply.
This was also the context for the session's central theme: allocation over price. The discussion explored an environment in which securing the necessary materials and production capacity can become a greater concern than price alone.
At the same time, the session did not frame additional purchasing as the solution. Better forecasting, flexibility around materials and stackups, and closer communication across the supply chain were discussed as ways of managing constraints. The discussion also addressed the risk that panic buying could intensify existing supply pressures.
Expanding manufacturing capacity presents another challenge. The panel discussed material delays and extended lead times for production equipment, alongside the investment and qualification processes involved in bringing additional capacity online.
Session 4 therefore connected directly back to the themes raised earlier in the day: Demand can create opportunity, but capturing that opportunity depends on the ability of the underlying supply chain to respond.
Four Sessions, One Connected Electronics Value Chain
By the end of the day, a clear connection had emerged between the four discussions:
- Resilience is linked to competitive manufacturing capacity.
- EMS growth is connected to access to components and materials.
- AI infrastructure requires far more than chips alone, extending into PCBs, servers, power, cooling and physical infrastructure.
- Expanding manufacturing capacity depends on materials, equipment, investment, and expertise.
The closing session began with Sylvain Maillard, Member of the French Parliament and CEO of Alantys, who shared his perspective on how industry can engage with elected policymakers. Stoten then guided the final moments of the programme, followed by remarks from Léonard and a closing statement from Dominik Grau, Global Electronics Association.
2026 Electronics Day EMS Europe brought leaders from across the electronics ecosystem together to address shared challenges and opportunities.
Taken together, the discussions in Paris raised an important question for Europe’s electronics industry: How can market demand, technological expertise and industrial know-how translate into greater competitiveness, capacity and resilience across the electronics value chain?
Thank you to all our speakers, panelists, partners and the more than 150 industry leaders who joined us in Paris and contributed their perspectives throughout the day.
