Press Release: State aid: European Commission approves €21.4 million public funding for Dutch company Mapper to develop new semiconductor manufacturing technology

The European Commission has authorised The Netherlands to grant €15.6 million of soft loans and a direct grant of €5.7 million to Mapper Lithography B.V, for the development of 'E-beam lithography'. E-beam technology is an innovative research path that could enable the global semiconductor industry to keep increasing the performance of microchips.

The Commission found the aid to be compatible with the EU Framework for State aid for research, development and innovation because Mapper would not have been able to carry out this risky R&D-project without the aid. In particular, the aid addresses a specific failure of the private venture capital market and is limited to the necessary minimum.