Europe at a turning point for PCB base materials
As performance requirements for printed circuit boards continue to rise — driven by high-speed digital as well as RF and microwave applications — the development and selection of base materials is becoming a balancing act between electrical performance, regulatory compliance and supply chain resilience. What used to be a largely engineering-driven decision is now increasingly influenced by external constraints that are harder to control and even harder to predict.
In Europe, this shift is taking place against a backdrop of a steadily shrinking industrial base. The old continent has been reduced to a single base material supplier – Isola GmbH - and one copper foil producer, CircuitFoil, while already losing its woven electronic glass manufacturing capabilities — a development that places increasing pressure on the remaining parts of the ecosystem.
“We are actually at a critical point,” says Alexander Ippich, Technical Director, Signal Integrity & Advanced Technology and Product Manager RF/Microwave in Isola GmbH, in an interview with Evertiq. “We still have a single European base material supplier as well as a copper foil supplier. But Europe has already lost all woven electronic glass suppliers.”
This erosion did not happen overnight. For years, discussions around local sourcing and European supply chains remained largely theoretical — acknowledged as important, but rarely reflected in actual procurement decisions.
That dynamic now appears to be shifting.
“I actually see a real shift in OEM customers selecting material suppliers from Europe,” Ippich tells Evertiq. “For many years, this was always mentioned as a ‘good thing to do’, but most of the time there was no follow-through.”
What is changing is not only where materials are sourced, but also why. In sectors such as space, aerospace and defence, supply security and long-term reliability are beginning to outweigh purely cost-driven considerations.
“Now, particularly in space, aerospace and defense applications, the shift is happening,” he explains. “This is for materials with higher electrical performance for HSD and RF/MW applications, but also for the FR4 area. Pricing is mentioned as a lesser concern now.”
At the same time, the regulatory environment in Europe is adding another layer of complexity — one that directly affects how materials are developed and qualified. Frameworks such as REACH and the continuously evolving SVHC list do not only impose constraints, but also introduce a degree of uncertainty into long development cycles.
“I do feel that those regulations make things more complicated,” Ippich says. “We may be in compliance with SVHC at a certain time, but with the next revision we may again see components being flagged, as there are new additions all the time.”
This creates a structural mismatch between regulatory timelines and industrial processes, where developing and qualifying new materials can take quite long.
“Developing a new base material formulation and the time needed for UL approval is quite lengthy, and it is impossible to react to new additions to the SVHC quickly,” he adds.
Within this context, the debate around PFAS becomes part of a broader transition, rather than an isolated regulatory issue. The search for alternatives is no longer only about compliance, but also about maintaining performance while adapting to a changing materials landscape.
“As for PFAS, we are in excellent shape,” Ippich notes. “We do have products that can deliver PTFE performance, but do not include PFAS components.”
Yet even as innovation continues, the question remains whether Europe can sustain — or rebuild — its material ecosystem.
“There is still know-how, so this could be brought back to life, but we cannot afford to wait too long and potentially lose more critical components,” Ippich explains to Evertiq. “It is important that the European Union and the OEMs do use the local supply chain to keep it active.”
The same tension is visible further down the value chain. Europe still maintains a number of highly capable PCB fabrication facilities, but their position depends increasingly on sourcing decisions.
“For PCB fabs, we still do have quite a number of very capable ones, but they also need to be supported and not always replaced by a lower-cost Asian supplier,” he adds.
Alexander Ippich will speak at Evertiq Expo Zurich on 23 April, addressing how performance requirements, regulatory constraints and supply chain realities intersect in the development and selection of PCB base materials.
