BRUSSELS, April 5 (Reuters) - The European Union's 43 billion euro ($47 billion) plan to boost its semiconductor industry and catch up with the United States and Asia is likely to get the green light from EU countries and lawmakers on April 18, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. Lawmakers had singled out Belgium-based IMEC, a world-leading innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies and with an ecosystem of more than 600 major industry players, as a key reason for ploughing more funds into EU R&D, they said. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays