EU Commission approves German state aid for new semiconductor facility

The European Commission has allowed Germany to support setting up a new production facility for semiconductor testing equipment with €76 million ($86.7 million) in grants.

Munich-based QuantumDiamonds will use the money to set up a new site. The commission, in a statement, said it "will be the first production site for novel semiconductor metrology and inspection systems based on quantum sensing in the EU."

The state aid will help the "development and manufacturing of advanced metrology and inspection systems for the semiconductor industry based on novel quantum sensors, enabling high-resolution and 3D testing of modern chips."

State aid in the European Union is strictly regulated and often requires approval by the commission to ensure fair competition between companies from economically strong EU countries and those from less affluent regions.

The commission approved the financial support as "the aid has an 'incentive effect,' as without public support, the company would not carry out the investment in Europe."

In addition, the grant "is necessary and appropriate to ensure the resilience of Europe's semiconductor supply chain," it said.

The EU aims to increase its share of global semiconductor production to 20% by 2030. According to the commission, this share currently stands at around 10%.

The EU has been facing tough global competition, including in key technology sectors such as semiconductors.EUEU