Crunch time for gas and electricity + Energy fall agenda +TSMC factory in Europe • Europe.Table

Chip manufacturer: Politics and industry woo TSMC
Implementation of EU environmental targets: Germany needs to close the gap
Austria leads the way with electricity price brake
Outlook: the fall agenda for energy policy
AFIR compromise found
ECB makes historic interest rate move
Council willing to adjust EU climate target
What’s cooking in Strasbourg? – Von der Leyens’ tarte flambée

Dear reader,

At 7:30 p.m. CEST, the Reuters news agency reported the death of the United Kingdom‘s head of state. “Queen Elizabeth II,” as German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote, “is a woman who shaped a century. She has experienced and written contemporary history. Her Majesty was held in the highest esteem and respect throughout the world.” On the other side of the canal in the French capital, the lights on the Eiffel Tower were switched off in commemoration.

It is crunch time in the EU for emergency measures against high prices on gas and electricity. Today, the energy ministers will meet to discuss the proposals for further action drawn up by the EU Commission. According to reports in Brussels, the Commission will present a legislative proposal as early as Tuesday. This shows that under pressure, the civil service apparatus in the Berlaymont can work very quickly and come up with very concrete results. The script then provides for Ursula von der Leyen’s speech on the state of the European Union on Wednesday. In the address, under the acronym SOTEU2022, she will passionately detail what the EU wants to do to protect citizens from price shocks. It is said that a second special meeting of the energy ministers of the 27 member states could be due before the end of September.

In her outlook for the fall, Claire Stam describes the status of the other legislative projects relating to energy in detail. The plenary votes on the Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive are due soon.

A piece by Till Hoppe and Finn Mayer-Kuckuk deals with the siting of a TSMC factory in Europe, which has long been the subject of speculation. However, the world market leader for chips from Taiwan is insisting on state subsidies and purchase guarantees from car manufacturers. A German site is also being discussed. Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton, who wants to increase Europe’s share of chip production, was not yet able to announce the green light during his visit to Berlin. However, Breton emphasized how welcome the company would be here.

Your
Markus Grabitz

Feature

Chip manufacturer: Politics and industry woo TSMC

The German government, the EU Commission and the automotive industry want to persuade the Taiwanese company to build its first semiconductor factory in Europe. This is about jobs, but above all about greater supply security for the companies.

EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, hopes to persuade Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC to build a factory in the EU. “We would be very happy if they would set up in Europe – either alone or together with others,” he said on Thursday in Berlin. The world’s largest contract manufacturer is a “very important player.”

The TSMC management has been probing an investment in Europe since last year. The company’s clients, especially in the automotive industry, are urging TSMC to build its own factory on the continent. They suffer under supply bottlenecks and are afraid of being cut off from suppliers in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Without Taiwanese semiconductors, the assembly lines of German carmakers would come to a standstill.

Industry circles are discussing Bosch, Infineon and NXP as possible partners for TSMC in the semiconductor industry. The German government is closely involved in the negotiations, which are already at an advanced stage, according to information from industry circles. In the chip industry, high subsidies from tax funds are common to encourage companies to make capital-intensive investments.

Continue reading now

… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.

Are you already a guest at the Europe.Table? Log in now