Bild zum Thema Halbleiter

© stock.adobe.com/Александр Кузьмин

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has selected 32 microelectronics business projects to be supported in the context of an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) with the aim to bring the production of semiconductors back to Germany and Europe. The investment volume of these 32 projects totals more than €10 billion. Apart from Germany, another 19 EU Member States and around 90 companies are participating in this IPCEI.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Dr Robert Habeck said: "The global supply bottlenecks show that Germany and Europe cannot afford to lose any time. We need to join forces to meet our demand in the field of microelectronics ourselves and bring back the production to Germany and Europe. We will provide billions in funding for this purpose. We want to strengthen the production of chips in Germany and Europe in order to become less dependent on international supply chains. As we move towards this goal, we are looking to innovative, energy efficient and climate-friendly technologies to accelerate the transformation of our industry towards carbon neutrality."

The IPCEI on microelectronics and communication technologies provides funding for projects along the entire value chain – from development and production to market maturity – with the aim of high-performance, fast, secure and energy-efficient overall microelectronics systems. The funding is to close existing supply-side gaps in Europe in a targeted manner and make innovation possible. In the context of the IPCEI, the various national projects are linked in a way to jointly establish a European value chain to the benefit of all countries involved.

Today, the 20 participating EU Member States submitted first projects in the context of the new IPCEI on microelectronics and communication technologies for authorisation by the European Commission. This prenotification is the first step towards authorisation by the European Commission in accordance with State aid rules. The participating companies include large companies, SMEs and startups. Their projects range from the production of materials, chip design and the production of semiconductors to the integration into components and systems. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is coordinating the IPCEI for the EU Member States involved. Together with the European Commission, the Ministry is working towards a rapid authorisation in accordance with State aid rules.

Background information about IPCEIs:
Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) are a European funding instrument in the context of which the EU Member States involved can support European strategic investment projects. The projects, which are largely funded by the private sector, receive public funding to accelerate complex, investment-intensive development projects. In order to be eligible, the projects must be in line with the European Union’s objectives, comprise several EU Member States and be expected to have spill-over effects on the respective sector of the Single Market. The funding is provided not by the EU, but rather by the participating Member States in accordance with the EU’s State aid rules.