By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Airbus, ASML, Ericsson and 53 other companies will take part in joint microelectronics and communication technologies projects with up to 8.1 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in state aid from 14 EU countries, the European Commission said on Thursday.
The projects are considered an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) subject to easier EU state aid rules and mark the second IPCEI in this sector following one in 2018.
The IPCEI ME/CT projects concern research and development projects covering microelectronics and communication technologies ranging from materials and tools to the chip design and manufacturing processes.
“We need to be pioneers. We need to develop truly innovative solutions and of course their first industrial deployments in Europe,” Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager told a news conference.
The Commission hopes the projects will attract 13.7 billion euros in additional private investment. Other participating companies include GlobalFoundries, Orange, Analog Devices, Continental Automotive and Bosch.
($1 = 0.9314 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jason Neely)
