Article 7: European Chips Infrastructure Consortium
1. For the purpose of implementing eligible actions and other related tasks funded under the Initiative a European Chips Infrastructure Consortium ('ECIC') may be established under the conditions set out in this Article.
2. The ECIC shall
(a) have legal personality from the date of entry into force of the Commission decision referred to in paragraph 6;
(b) have one or more statutory seats, which shall be located on the territory of one or more Member States;
(c) consist of at least three legal entities from at least three Member States and be operated as a public-private sector consortium with the participation of the Member States, and private legal entities;
(d) appoint the coordinator.
3. The coordinator shall submit an application to the Commission in writing which shall contain the following:
(a) a request to the Commission to set up the ECIC, including a list of the proposed legal entities that are forming the ECIC consortium;
(b) the draft Statutes of the ECIC that shall include at least the provisions on: the procedure for setting-up, membership, budget, legal seat, applicable law and jurisdiction, ownership of the results, governance, including decision making procedure and specific role and if applicable voting rights of Member States and the Commission, winding-up, reporting and liability.
4. The Commission shall review the application to set up the ECIC on the basis of all of the following criteria:
(a) the appropriate competences, know-how and capabilities of the proposed ECIC and of the legal entities forming it on the semiconductors;
(b) the appropriate management capacity, staff and infrastructure necessary to carry out the eligible actions under the Initiative;
(c) the operational and legal means to apply the administrative, contractual and financial management rules laid down at Union level;
(d) the appropriate financial viability corresponding to the level of Union funds it will be called upon to manage and demonstrated, where appropriate, through guarantees issued preferably by a public authority;
(e) the budget that would be made available by Member States and private sector participants for the financing of the ECIC, and related modalities;
(f) the appropriate ability of the ECIC to ensure coverage of the needs of industry.
5. The Commission by means of an implementing act and based on the criteria set out in paragraph 4, shall adopt one of the following decisions:
(a) setting up the ECIC after it has concluded that the requirements laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 are met;
(b) rejecting the application if it concludes that the requirements laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 are not met. The implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 33(2).
6. The decision referred to in paragraph 5 shall be notified to the applicants.
7. The decision setting up the ECIC shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
8. The ECIC shall have substantial overall autonomy to lay down its membership, governance, funding, budget and the modalities by which the respective financial contributions from the members are called upon, voting rights and working methods. However, the organisation, composition and working methods of the ECIC, including any amendments to the Statutes, shall be in accordance with and contribute to the aims and objectives of this Regulation and the Chips for Europe Initiative and shall be notified to the Commission.
9. The ECIC shall produce an annual activity report, containing a technical description of its activities and financial statement. The annual activity report shall be transmitted to the Commission and made publicly available. The Commission may provide recommendations regarding the matters covered in the annual activity report.
Note: This is not the final text of the European Chips Act. This is the text of the European Chips Act Proposal of February 2022.