EU opens door to giving aid for semiconductor production

BRUSSELS – The European Commission said Thursday that it could o.k. assistance to money accumulation of semiconductors successful the 27-nation bloc amid a planetary spot shortage and aggravated worldwide contention to capable the need.

The EU's enforcement limb expects that the scarcity of semiconductors — a cardinal constituent successful everything from smartphones to cars — volition last, affecting the region's economy.

Automakers person been among the hardest deed by the shortage, which has slowed oregon halted production.

Most of chipmakers are based successful Asia, and the bloc wants to trim its dependence by boosting accumulation connected its soil.

“The committee volition see approving enactment to capable imaginable backing gaps successful the semiconductor ecosystem, successful peculiar for European first-of-a-kind facilities," said Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition.

She said safeguards volition beryllium enactment successful spot to marque definite the assistance is “necessary, appropriate, proportionate and of people to marque definite that undue contention distortion is limited.”

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Vestager's announcement followed the presumption successful September of the European Chips Act, which aims to marque the bloc competitory successful the contention for the astir precocious chips by expanding probe and accumulation successful the EU. Earlier this year, the bloc besides launched an concern confederation with the extremity of expanding the EU's stock of the planetary accumulation of semiconductors to 20% by 2030.

In the planetary race, the U.S. has been stepping up efforts to bolster the industry. U.S. lawmakers approved a measure earlier this twelvemonth with the extremity of boosting home semiconductor production, portion of a wider rivalry with China implicit commercialized and technology.

As she laid retired a reappraisal of the European Union's contention policy, Vestager said “self-sufficiency is an illusion" but insisted that the EU can't trust connected 1 state oregon institution unsocial for chips.

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“The purpose should beryllium a diversification among like-minded partners to physique a resilient proviso concatenation and to debar azygous points of failure," she said.

Meanwhile, the committee extended the State Aid Temporary Framework to enactment companies deed by the coronavirus pandemic until the extremity of June, Vestager said. Under that program, much than 3.1 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion) of assistance crossed the bloc has been approved.

“On the 1 hand, the constricted prolongation gives the accidental for a progressive and coordinated phase-out of situation measures, without creating cliff-edge effects," she said. “This reflects the projected beardown betterment of the European system overall. On the different hand, we volition proceed to intimately show the worrying emergence successful COVID-19 infections and different risks to the economical recovery."

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