In the European Union, it was decided to provide state subsidies in the amount of $8 billion to support research projects in the field of semiconductors.
This decision is part of the implementation of efforts to expand the internal supply chain of chips in the EU. The European Commission on Thursday, June 8, reported that projects related to research in the field of semiconductors mainly receive financial support from private companies and organizations. The total volume of these investment injections is €13.7 billion.
A total of 68 important initiatives representing Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) have received approval from 56 companies in 19 countries, including Norway.
Commissioner for the Internal European Market Thierry Breton posted a message on his blog on the occasion of the decision to finance research projects in the field of semiconductors, in which he stated that this initiative means that Europe takes its fate into its own hands. He also said that the EU, through the development of the most advanced semiconductors, will be able to become an industrial center in the markets of the future.
The Commission proposed an EU Chip Law in early 2021. The goal of this legislative initiative is more than ambitious and provides for the achievement of a result consisting of the production of 20% of the global volume of semiconductors at European enterprises by 2030. IPCEI projects are included in the conceptual structure of this plan as the main elements. Also, as part of the implementation of intentions concerning the production of semiconductors, the governments of European countries got the opportunity to allocate funds for production facilities.
Some firms were skeptical about the time it took to approve IPCEI projects.
Currently, companies such as Intel, Infineon Technologies AG, STMicroelectronics NV, GlobalFoundries, and Wolfspeed are reporting new chip-related investments.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is exploring the possibility of building a plant in Germany. This company is the world’s largest manufacturer of chips under contract. At the end of May, the media, citing anonymous sources, reported that the firm was negotiating to receive government subsidies that would cover 50% of the costs of building the plant. There are no interim results of the negotiation process yet.
The company intends to build a factory in Dresden. Preliminary calculations indicate that the cost of this project will be €10 billion. Japan is also currently offering Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to build a factory in this country.
As we have reported earlier, Microsoft Develops AI Chip.
