- Chip IPCEI: waiting for the federal government
- Food security: the dispute over EU nature conservation laws
- Sanctions monitoring
- Macron and Le Pen enter runoff, Macron in the lead
- Gas platform to work with industry
- Timmermans: EU could revisit renewable targets
- BaFin: Russian bank VTB no longer has control of European subsidiary
- EU countries refuse imports of Russian goods
- Draghi set to sign gas agreement with Algeria
- Musk proposes Twitter Blue subscription shake-up
- Angelika Niebler – focus on SMEs
As expected, French President Emmanuel Macron and his strongest challenger Marine Le Pen entered the presidential election runoff yesterday. Two weeks from Sunday, on April 24, the nearly 49 million eligible voters will have to decide between far-right Le Pen and pro-European Macron. Read more about the election results in the News.
Launched in 2020 under Germany’s EU Council presidency, the support program for the chip industry was supposed to make an “important contribution to growth, employment and the competitiveness of European industry and the economy”, in the words of then Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU). Little has happened since then. Till Hoppe analyzes the problems with the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and the fears that German companies now have.
The EU Commission had actually planned to present its two drafts on setting aside ten percent of European agricultural land and halving the use of plant protection products at the end of March – but had postponed this. Timo Landenberger explains the reasons for the delay and why the new date has caused irritation.
The EU states’ joint platform on energy procurement will set up an advisory working group with experts from the business community. Read about the tasks of the platform in the News.
Angelika Niebler – a great supporter of SMEs and experienced MEP – is in the spotlight of today’s Profile. Niebler is Chairwoman of the CSU European Group and Deputy Chairwoman of the CDU/CSU Group in the European Parliament. In 2019, she launched the directive on preventive restructuring for companies in difficulties.
Lisa-Martina Klein
Feature
Chip IPCEI: waiting for the federal government
It was one of the flagship projects of the German EU Council Presidency in the fall of 2020: The new funding program for the chip industry could make an “important contribution to growth, employment and the competitiveness of European industry and the economy,” said then Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU).
A year and a half has passed since then, but the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on microelectronics and communications technologies still exists only on paper. Resentment is growing among the 32 participating companies in Germany. The project suffers from the fact that it is still unclear how much public money the German government will make available for it.
The companies, including Infineon, Bosch, Globalfoundries, and quite a few SMEs, had hoped for clarity when German Finance Minister Christian Lindner presented his draft budget for 2022 and the key figures for the following years in mid-March – in vain. At a meeting of representatives of the 32 companies and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action just over a week ago, it became clear, according to participants, that the BMWK itself does not know.
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