Which countries can really benefit from EU subsidies?

 

One of the key points of the "European Chip Act" is the relaxation of restrictions on certain state subsidies for member states. State subsidies are currently an important factor affecting large-scale chip manufacturers' site selection and construction. The EU's consideration is that the EU's subsidies can make it easier for the EU government to provide funds to chip manufacturers.

Judging from the EU's subsidy rules, countries participating in subsidies include EU countries such as Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Spain. But judging from the choice of major manufacturers, this is not the case.

Intel, the chip giant, said that it plans to invest up to 95 billion US dollars in Europe in the next 10 years. For such a "huge" investment, Intel inspected three European countries: Germany, France, and Italy. Under the commitment of the German government to subsidize 6.8 billion euros, Intel finally chose to build a chip factory in the eastern German city of Magdeburg.

When TSMC, a large wafer foundry, considers building a factory in Europe, the best location for the same evaluation is Germany. TSMC also stated that if it can get the subsidy support of the EU's "Chip Act", it plans to build a fab in Germany as early as August this year, mainly producing 28nm automotive semiconductors.

Infineon said in February this year that it had begun construction of a semiconductor factory worth 5 billion euros and would begin production in 2026 in Dresden, Germany.

Of course, Europe is not limited to Germany, and some companies have chosen other countries. STMicroelectronics plans to set up a 730 million euro silicon carbide fab in Europe. The new plant will be completed in 2026 and will be located in Italy.

In addition, STMicroelectronics announced plans to build a semiconductor factory in cooperation with Global Foundry in July last year. The plant will be adjacent to STMicroelectronics' existing plant in Crolles, which is located in France and aims to reach full capacity by 2026.

This is the current plan or intention announced by some major manufacturers. From this point of view, international companies that want to build factories in the European continent have no choice but to choose - Germany, Italy, and France.

Obviously, these large factories have hardly considered building factories worth more than 20 billion U.S. dollars in smaller countries, because in addition to government subsidies, they need to consider before building factories: whether there are people, whether there is land, and whether there are research institutions. And small countries are indeed a shortcoming in these aspects.

All in all, the EU's chip subsidies are more "beneficiaries of big countries" or "benefits of Germany and France".