The Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Protection (BMWi) headlines with a quote from the new Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck: “We have to [die] Bring the production of semiconductors back to Germany and Europe. “32 company projects are to be funded with more than 10 billion euros in the coming years.
The money comes from the second “Important Project of Common European Interest” Microelectronics and Communication Technologies (IPCEI Microelectronics II). Within this framework, the EU is coordinating the expansion of European semiconductor production and chip development – according to the original announcement, up to 145 billion euros should flow by 2023/2024.
Slow progress
A year has now passed since the announcement. According to the announcement, the 32 planned corporate projects are now a so-called pre-notification – Germany has therefore proposed this to the European Commission for funding. Approval is still pending.
When asked by heise online, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection did not reveal which companies should be funded: “We cannot yet give the names of the German companies that are currently taking part in the 2nd IPCEI Microelectronics. The process is still ongoing , The pre-notification is the first step towards the approval of the IPCEI by the European Commission.We can and will communicate the names of the participating companies at the latest when the Commission has approved the IPCEI and the sub-projects it contains. “
Due to the protracted processes, criticism has already arisen that the EU and its member states are taking too much time, while new semiconductor plants, for example, are being built comparatively quickly in Asia and the USA. The news agency Reuters recently reported that Intel won’t decide on the location of a new European semiconductor plant until early 2022. The location is intended to significantly increase the production share of semiconductor components in Europe.
(mma)