The EU Chips Act, proposed by the European Commission last year and confirmed by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, aims to double the bloc's share of global chip output to 20 per cent by 2030 and follows the US CHIPS for America Act.

Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager tweeted that the EU needed chips to power digital and green transitions or healthcare systems.

She said since the announcement of its chips subsidies plan last year, the EU has already attracted more than 100 billion euros in public and private investments.

The critical piece of the equation which the EU will need to get right, as for the U.S., is how much of the supply chains supporting the industry can be moved to the EU and at what cost.

While the Commission had originally proposed funding only cutting-edge chip plants, EU governments and lawmakers have widened the scope to cover the whole value chain, including older chips and research and design facilities.

However cynics have said that this is basically a way of transfering huge amounts of grant money to foriegn chipmakers like Intel and TSMC to expand their operations into Europe.