EU Chips Act II Revamp Would Let Brussels Invest Directly in European Fabs

Bloomberg reported on April 30, 2026 that the European Commission is preparing a substantially revamped Chips Act II, due in draft form by late May, that would for the first time allow the bloc's executive arm to invest directly in semiconductor fabs operating on European soil. Under the original 2023 Chips Act, EU-level support was limited to grants and coordination, with capital subsidies left almost entirely to individual member states like Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The new structure would let Brussels co-invest alongside national governments and private capital, taking equity-like positions in strategic projects.

The policy shift is a direct response to two pressures. First, large announced fabs in Germany — including Intel's Magdeburg site and TSMC's ESMC joint venture in Dresden — have repeatedly required reworked subsidy packages as construction costs and timelines slipped. Second, U.S. and Asian competitors continue to widen the funding gap; the U.S. CHIPS Act and CHIPS R&D fund collectively committed roughly $52 billion to American capacity, while South Korea, Japan, and China are running multi-trillion-yen and -yuan domestic programs. Evertiq's market analysis on the same day noted that European semiconductor capacity growth has lagged the global average for three consecutive years, despite stated goals to double the EU's share of global production by 2030.

If passed, the revamped Chips Act II would mark a meaningful change in EU industrial policy posture: from a coordinator of national subsidies to an active capital provider with skin in the game. Industry watchers expect the law to focus on advanced-node logic (sub-7nm), advanced packaging, and power semiconductors for automotive and energy infrastructure. The draft is expected to circulate to member-state capitals and industry stakeholders in late May, with formal proposal in summer 2026 and political negotiation extending into 2027 — meaning any new direct investments are unlikely to land in projects before 2028 at the earliest.