The European Commission proposed on Tuesday (8) release 43 billion euros (R$ 258.8 billion) for the semiconductor industry to reduce its dependence on Asia in this strategic sector that is experiencing severe shortages.
“We have proposed the objective of having 20% of the world market in 2030”, double that of today, declared the president of the European Executive, Ursula von der Leyen. In a market expected to double by 2030, that would mean quadrupling semiconductor production in Europe.
The European Union, which has been at the forefront of chip development, has seen its market share drop in recent decades to just 9% of global production.
In Brazil, the lack of chips threatens the production of automakers and critically affects the electronics industry. In November last year, the Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, invited billionaire Elon Musk to create a semiconductor industry in the country. However, the decision contrasts with the decision to liquidate Ceitec (National Center for Advanced Technology), the only semiconductor manufacturer in Latin America.
In Europe, too, the shortage of semiconductors has held back the automotive industry for three years and forced many factories to close. The geopolitical tensions surrounding China, as well as the pandemic, have raised awareness of the need to produce these essential components imported primarily from Taiwan and Korea in Europe.
To the point of convincing the Commission to relax its rigid state aid framework and adopt an interventionist industrial policy in a continent traditionally very open to global competition.
“For the first time, Europe is changing the rules of competition policy, in particular state aid,” explained Thierry Breton, who leads the EU initiative.
These components are essential in many everyday objects such as cell phones but also in data storage centers at the heart of the booming digital economy.
Last year, semiconductors represented a global market worth nearly 600 billion euros (R$ 3.6 trillion), according to consultancy Yole Développement.
The project, which has yet to be adopted by the bloc’s member countries and the European Parliament, provides for 11 billion euros (R$ 66.22 billion) in subsidies, about half of the EU budget and the other half of member states. , to finance research on the most innovative technologies and to prepare for their industrialization.
To allow the installation of factories, Brussels will also authorize 30 billion euros (R$ 180.6 billion) in public aid from Member States to industrialists in the sector, including foreign groups, such as the American Intel, which intends to invest in Europe.
A fund of more than 2 billion euros (R$ 12 billion) will support startups in the sector.
This essentially public funding should lead to even greater private investment, the Commission hopes.
The European plan rivals that of the United States, which has also initiated the repatriation of productive activities to its territory.
On Friday (4), the House of Representatives approved a bill that provides for US$ 52 billion (R$ 274 billion) to relocate the manufacture of electronic chips.
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