EU chip bill officially unveiled: finalizing the eight-year quadruple production capacity target will also set up a special fund

The "chip bill" of the European Union has finally revealed its true face.

On February 8th, the European Commission formally issued the EU Chip Act (The European Chips Act) to promote the development of the local semiconductor industry.

The bill is intended to cost up to 43 billion euros ($49.1 billion)-worth mentioning 42 billion euros in a speech last week by European Commission President Ursula von der Lane (Ursula von der Leyen).

At the same time, the EU reiterated its development goal of accounting for 20% of the world's chip production capacity by 2030. This also means that its semiconductor production capacity will have to reach four times its current level within eight years.

Through the Chip Act, the EU plans to address outstanding weaknesses based on its own technological research and development and equipment advantages. Specifically:

1. Invest 11 billion euros to strengthen the level of R & D and innovation for the development of advanced equipment, prototype trial production line, production personnel training and other projects;

two。 Establish a new framework to attract investment, improve manufacturing capacity and ensure supply. At the same time, a "chip fund" will be established to help start-ups obtain financing, and another semiconductor equity investment fund will be set up to support the market expansion of large, small and medium-sized enterprises.

3. Coordination mechanisms will be established between the Committee and member States to collect key intelligence to monitor the semiconductor supply chain, identify weaknesses and bottlenecks, make crisis assessments and respond in a timely manner.

The European Commission encourages member states to immediately coordinate work to understand the current situation of the EU semiconductor industry chain, identify potential interference items and correct them, so as to overcome the "lack of core".

In addition, the European Commission revealed that the chip caused damage to cars, medical equipment and other areas. In the automobile industry, for example, car production in some member countries fell by 1/3 last year. This also highlights the extreme dependence of the industrial chain on a small number of manufacturers, as well as the importance of semiconductors to European industry and society.

Von der Lane, chairman of the committee, said the Chip Act is expected to change the EU's global competitiveness. In the short term, the bill will help the EU predict problems and avoid supply chain disruptions, thereby improving its ability to withstand crises; in the medium to long term, it will help the EU become a leader in the chip market.

Margaret Vestager (Margrethe Vestager), executive vice chairman and competition officer of the Commission, pointed out that EU international partners are expected to benefit. The EU will work with it to avoid future supply problems.

It is worth noting that on the same day, similar to the previous actions of the US Department of Commerce, the European Commission also sent a questionnaire to relevant semiconductor manufacturers to collect detailed information on current and future wafer and chip demands. to help the EU "better understand the impact of 'lack of core' on European industry".