Austria joins EU project in microelectronics

The European Commission has approved EUR 146.5 million in Austrian support for three companies joining the existing Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) in microelectronics approved by the Commission in 2018. The public funding is expected to unlock an additional EUR 530 million of private investments, in other words, more than three and a half times the public support. “To deliver on the digital and green transition, we will need highly innovative and sustainable microchips and sensors for many products in our economy, ranging from mobile phones to aircraft. The Important Project of Common European Interest in microelectronics that we approved in 2018 has been supporting the development of important cutting-edge technologies in this field,” says Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, in a press release. “The IPCEI's integration is very important for its success – we have approved additional support by Austria to three projects because they meet the high bar of adding significant value to the existing IPCEI, with important collaborations with the existing participants,” Margrethe Vestager continues. In December 2020, Austria notified to the Commission its plans to join the 2018 IPCEI Microelectronics, by providing EUR 146.5 million of public support to three companies, namely Infineon Austria, AT&S Austria and NXP Semiconductors Austria. The three companies will carry out additional research and innovation falling within the scope and contributing to the objectives of the existing IPCEI. The companies will focus in particular on the areas of security, energy efficiency, and integration of packaging technologies for microelectronics. The projects that Infineon Austria, AT&S Austria and NXP Semiconductors Austria will carry out aim at delivering additional technological innovations in energy efficient power semiconductors, on advanced security and interconnections, as well as on organic packaging technology aspects.