The move likely to get Brussels’ backing as it has been courting Taiwanese semiconductor firms to manufacture in the bloc.

Taiwan has become front and centre of efforts to resolve a shortage of chips that has shut some auto production lines around the world and whose impact is now being felt in consumer electronics too.

While TSMC is building a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in the US state of Arizona, it has given no suggestion of interest in a similar facility in Europe, despite EU efforts to spur such investment.

Kung Ming-hsin, who heads Taiwan's National Development Council, told reporters following his visit to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania last month that all three countries had mentioned they wanted to work on chips with the island.

Taiwan will set up working groups with the three countries to work out how to cooperate on chips, while Taiwan will also give scholarships for technical training, he added.

"The whole semiconductor supply chain is enormous. Many countries can play different roles", Kung said.

Neither the EU nor its member states have formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed and democratically-ruled Taiwan, but Taipei has sought to bolster its relations with the bloc by stressing their shared values of freedom and democracy.