Due
to its reliance on Asian chips, the EU has been particularly
hard hit by an unprecedented global shortage in semiconductors
that is holding up the delivery of goods from cars to
Playstations and driving up smartphone prices worldwide.
"The Commission may consider approving public support to fill
possible funding gaps in the semiconductor ecosystem for the
establishment in particular ... of first-of-its-kind
facilities," Margrethe Vestager told the European Parliament.
The Commission, which oversees antitrust policy in the 27 EU
countries, would seek to ensure such support was subject to
strong competition safeguards though and that the benefits were
shared widely and without discrimination across the European
economy, she added, following up on earlier warnings of a
subsidy race.
The U.S. last year announced its CHIPS for America Act aimed at
boosting its ability to compete with Chinese technology while
the EU - seeking to double the bloc's share of global chip
output to 20% over the next decade - plans to adopt its own
chips act in 2022.
The U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp has said it could invest as much
as 80 billion euros ($91 billion) in Europe over the next
decade, with Germany and France seen as the leading contenders
for production sites.
France had been pushing for the EU to allow subsidies with fewer
restrictions, but smaller nations such as the Netherlands and
Ireland had argued that allowing excessive and non-targeted use
of strategic funds would cause unfair competition within the
bloc.
The Commission, meanwhile, also strengthened its control of
acquisitions in the digital sector, reacting to increasing
concern about the dominance of U.S. tech giants and Chinese
state entities acquiring EU technologies.
"This encourages member states to refer potentially problematic
transactions for its review, even if they do not meet national
notification thresholds," the Commission said.
"And (it) allows the Commission to review acquisitions of
innovative companies having competitive potential beyond what
their turnover would indicate, in particular in the digital
sector."
France and Germany have argued that antitrust policy should not
hinder the creation of European champions that can compete more
effectively against huge global players, particularly from
China, recalling regulators blocking mergers such as Siemens'
planned acquisition of France's Alstom in 2019.
As COVID infection numbers reached new records in some EU member
states, the Commission extended looser state aid rules for
virus-hit companies for six months to June 2022 in a bid to
slowly wean them off more than 3 trillion euros ($3.4 trillion)
provided across the EU.
($1 = 0.8825 euros)
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Philip Blenkinsop and Kate Abnett,
Elaine Hardcastle)
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