The Federal Government has taken an important step to strengthen microelectronics in Germany and Europe today. The submission of 14 projects to the European Commission for preparatory assessment (prenotification) in the context of the Important Project of Common European Interest – Advanced Semiconductor Technologies (IPCEI AST) launches the next phase of a key innovation project for the European semiconductor industry. Germany is coordinating the integrated European project together with the Netherlands and France, and is the first of the participating Member States to submit projects for State aid assessment. In this way, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is triggering the development of the next generation of semiconductor technologies to be developed as part of the IPCEI AST.
The Federation is providing up to €3.8 billion for this. The financing is taking place in close partnership between the Federation and the twelve participating Länder (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia). The funding cannot be disbursed until it has been approved under State aid rules by the European Commission and the necessary budget funding has been provided.
The aim is to close current gaps in technology in Europe by investing nearly €10 billion in Germany alone, and to build up a competitive European value chain driven by substantial leaps forward in innovation. This will particularly benefit automotive manufacturers, plant constructors, and the energy and digital sectors. It will give a lasting boost to the resilience of European industry.
Through its funding under the IPCEI AST, the German government is reaffirming its commitment to strengthening the European microelectronics sector and sending a strong signal in support of technological sovereignty, industrial competitiveness, and the successful implementation of the national and European semiconductor strategies.
In total, 35 projects are to be supported in Germany with national funding under the IPCEI AST. The aim is to speed up the transfer of innovative semiconductor technologies from the research stage to serial manufacturing, so that commercial use can be made of new innovative chip technologies. This will boost Europe’s competitiveness and innovative capacities, and will also provide an important stimulus for sustainable growth and technological sovereignty in central sectors of industry.
The submitted projects cover the entire value chain of microelectronics – from innovative materials and manufacturing systems to chip design, semiconductor manufacturing and modern packaging technologies. A special emphasis is placed on the further development of highly innovative AI chips which go far beyond the current state of the art.
In the IPCEI AST, 17 EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden) are pooling their forces to consolidate Europe’s technological sovereignty in the microelectronics sector. The funding covers highly innovative research, development and industrialisation projects, through to the first commercial use.
The submission of the German projects requiring state aid approval is the first step toward obtaining approval under state aid law from the European Commission.
Further information
Boosting microelectronics as a key enabling technology in Europe | BMWE