EU countries gradually reached a consensus on the "Chip Act", which is expected to accelerate the promotion

EU countries gradually reached a consensus on the "Chip Act", which is expected to accelerate the promotion

EU ministers approved a mandate at the Telecommunications Council meeting on Thursday (December 1) to launch the "Chips Act" (Chips Act), which will allow negotiations among EU institutions to begin. Officials of the EU presidency believe that the EU must reduce its overreliance on global semiconductor leaders in Asia and the United States, and has prepared relevant initiatives and plans to build super-large factories for this purpose.

According to a report by the European Union's professional media "European News" (EurActiv) on the 2nd, the bill is part of various attempts by the European Union to try to expand European semiconductor capabilities and introduce a mechanism to predict and manage supply crises. A global shortage of chips, the key component in all electronic devices, has disrupted the manufacture of everything from PlayStation video game consoles to cars over the past few years, prompting the executive committee to make the recommendation. The text adopted by the EU Council and facilitated by the Czech presidency introduces some important changes.

Czech Trade and Industry Minister Jozef Sikela, who holds the EU presidency, said: "The EU must reduce its overreliance on global semiconductor leaders in Asia and the United States, and with the Chip Act, the EU is taking the problem into its own hands. "

Semiconductors are highly complex technologies, their development process is extremely long, and it is a highly capital-intensive industry. As a result, this complex supply chain is characterized by a solid concentration of production capacity in Asia, while design expertise is in the United States.

To address these "strategic dependencies", the Chips Act establishes a legal framework that, by introducing the concept of "firsts", establishes the conditions under which public funding can be made available to finance new facilities in Europe, so-called Mega Fabs .

In other words, these megafactories must be able to advance Europe's technological capabilities. These world-first facilities were at the heart of the board's discussions, which expanded to elements such as computing power and energy efficiency for such innovative requirements.

The task requirements to be fulfilled by these megafactories have also been adjusted so that these factory superworkers can have a positive spillover effect on the entire EU semiconductor value chain.

The obligation is also a point of concern among member states broadly that these mega-factories appear to only benefit those with deep pockets and the ability to subsidize such expensive facilities. In fact, "spillover effects" may take different forms, for example, as a research center or training programme.

When the executive committee assesses plans for a megafactory, it will have to consider aspects such as the financial sustainability of the business plan and the readiness of the host country to build the facility.

The EU executive branch must have an exit mechanism to withdraw from the megafab plan at any time, but only after consultation with the European Semiconductor Board, which brings together representatives of national governments.

In addition, mega-factories could be built by derogating from the EU's environmental procedures in emergencies of "overwhelming public interest". A fundamental part of the proposal is the Chips for Europe Initiative, which will fund the establishment of advanced design capabilities, new test lines for cutting-edge chips, build engineering and technical capabilities, create a network of competence centers (per at least one member state) and facilitate access to financing for SMEs in the semiconductor supply chain.

The initiative will receive 1.65 billion euros (nearly NT$53 billion) in funding from the European Union's research program Horizon Europe for research and innovation activities, and from the Digital Europe Programme. ) received 1.25 billion euros (nearly NT$40.1 billion) in funding for capacity building in the semiconductor industry.

The Commission and EU countries will set up an early warning mechanism and map out potential chokepoints during the crisis. In the event of a crisis, the committee could issue priority orders to giant factories in key sectors such as defense and medical, or propose co-purchase orders in the model of COVID-19 vaccines. In the council, there was extensive discussion on whether the automotive sector should be considered a key sector, but the idea was eventually abandoned as it would overly broaden the scope of the "crisis" (in favor of business).

Originally for public funding, the CHIP Act introduced the legal entity of the European Chip Infrastructure Group (ECIC). However, this model has sparked controversy, with weaker EU countries arguing that it would only make the big EU stronger, however, in the end the European chip infrastructure bloc remained in the text, but it became optional and non-mandatory Program.