EU agrees to $47B plan to fund chip production to reduce foreign reliance: report

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The European Union agreed to a $46.6B (45B€) plan on Wednesday to fund chip production on the continent as it looks to reduce its need for foreign semiconductor manufacturing, Reuters reported.

The news outlet noted that envoys of the 27-country consortium unanimously backed an amended version of a previous proposal from the European Commission.

Ministers from the EU are set to meet on December 1 to give a rubber stamp to the plan. From there, it will be debated by European Parliament early next year and assuming the legislation is passed, it will become law.

Currently, chip production in Europe accounts for just 8% of global capacity, down from 24% in 2000, Reuters added. With the new plans, the bloc is hoping that figure will increase to 20% by 2030.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has worked to increase its presence on the continent. In March, the company said it would invest approximately $88B, or 80B€, in chip manufacturing in Europe over the next decade, including an $18.6B mega fab in Germany.

In September, Intel (INTC) reportedly picked the town of Vigasio in the Italian region Veneto, roughly 70 miles west of Venice, for its new multi-billion dollar chip factory in the European country.

Earlier this year, the U.S. passed its own semiconductor legislation, providing $52B in aid to the industry to help spur domestic manufacturing and production.

Investment firm Bank of America said that Intel (INTC) would be the biggest beneficiary of the legislation, known as the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, but that it would not be a "silver bullet" for the Pat Gelsinger-led company.

Other related tickers: Texas Instruments (TXN), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Nvidia (NVDA), STMicroelectronics (STM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron Technology (MU)