“We see this in a positive way,” Chery told BFM Business referring to the EU initiative, “it will lead to competition in advanced technologies in Europe,”
Chery added: “If it is on advanced technologies, there is no reason to to be part of it. It is marginal to our activity.”
ST has rejected such a proposition before. Seven years ago EC Commissioner Neelie Kroes proposed the same targets. At that time all three big EU chip companies declined their support.
As they did seven years ago, the EU’s tech companies have recently urged the EU to provide financial support for the niche areas where they operate, rather than try to launch an effort to compete at the leading edge where they do not operate.
Europe’s tech leaders have poured scorn on EC Commissioner Thierry Breton’s scheme to try to operate at the leading edge: “Wanting to build a factory for 2-nanometer chips in Europe is the same as saying you want to build a rocket to send people to the moon,” said ASML CEO Peter Wennink