Europe Aims To Invest Billions Of Euros In The Chip Industry

The EU's industry chief said on Friday the EU is aiming to invest tens of billions of euros to support the chip industry and double its share of global production, after a global shortage showed the risks of relying on Asian and US suppliers. The EU's ambitious plan came about after the United States announced the $52 billion CHIPS Act for America last year to better compete with Chinese technology. In an interview with reporters, Thierry Breton said, "I don't want to give you the level of investment today, but it will be commensurate with what the US wants to put in. We work with all the different payments, especially national, European, regional, but of course when you add all that we will have what we need and it will be proportional. I approve.” The EU Chips Law, announced last September by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and which the EU administrator plans to embody on February 8, will cover investments for the next 20-30 years. The EU chip push is a program funded by EU countries that aims to manufacture cutting-edge chips and includes the establishment of a design platform for manufacturers, software companies and users to test new applications. More flexible state aid rules will apply to 'first' production facilities in Europe. Breton said, "We are doing whatever it takes to attract strategic investments. We set our terms, for the first time in Europe, the security of supply, without government assistance for captured technologies. I want the EU to be an exporter in the semiconductors sector, as in vaccines. “We do the same in strategic industries – we don't do everything ourselves, but we have the capacity if needed.”