Crolles is home to STMicroelectronics' main European manufacturing complex, producing chips on FD-SOI processes for automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. It is a cornerstone of European semiconductor sovereignty.Source: STMicroelectronics Crolles facility

Why did GlobalFoundries pull out of the Crolles joint venture?

GlobalFoundries suspended its joint venture with STMicroelectronics in Crolles in 2024, citing the collapse in chip demand and difficulty securing EU public funding on commercially viable terms.Source: GlobalFoundries JV suspension announcement

What is FD-SOI and why does Europe care about it?

FD-SOI (fully depleted silicon-on-insulator) is a chip process that STMicroelectronics and Samsung use. Europe invested in it as a differentiating technology for low-power and RF applications, particularly for automotive chips.Source: CEA-Leti FD-SOI research

Background

Crolles is a town in the Isère department of southeastern France, home to STMicroelectronics' most important European manufacturing site. In early 2024, GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics suspended their €7.5bn joint expansion here, citing insufficient customer demand, removing the French capacity anchor from the EU Chips Act's supply plans. The Commission's June 2026 Digital Decade scorecard confirmed European chip share at 9% against the 20% Chips Act target, with Crolles and Magdeburg among the structural causes of the gap .

The Crolles project was part of the Chips Act's ambition to double Europe's chip share to 20% by 2030. Its collapse mirrors Intel's €30bn Magdeburg cancellation; together the two withdrawals represent the largest single setback to the Chips Act's supply targets. The Crolles site uses FD-SOI, a French-developed transistor architecture suited to automotive and RF applications, and was to have expanded that capacity significantly under the joint venture .

Crolles remains an active STMicroelectronics site under IPCEI ME/CT co-funding, but without the GlobalFoundries partnership its strategic scope has been sharply reduced. FD-SOI production there retains niche value for automotive and RF end-markets; it does not represent a credible PATH to European leadership in advanced-node logic manufacturing. France's industrial policy bet on the site demonstrated that European demand did not materialise fast enough to justify the private capital commitment.

More questions

Is the Crolles fab receiving EU funding?

Yes. Crolles is among the sites included in IPCEI ME/CT (Important Projects of Common European Interest in Microelectronics and Communication Technologies), receiving French state and EU co-funding.Source: European Commission IPCEI Me/CT decision

What is the current status of the STMicroelectronics fab in Crolles?

Crolles remains an active STMicroelectronics manufacturing site funded under IPCEI ME/CT, but the planned €7.5bn expansion with GlobalFoundries was suspended in early 2024. Without that partnership, the site's strategic scope has been significantly reduced.Source: Lowdown european-tech-sovereignty briefing

How does the Crolles suspension connect to Europe's 9% chip share in 2026?

The Commission's June 2026 Digital Decade scorecard confirmed Europe's chip share at 9%, well below the 20% Chips Act target. The Crolles GlobalFoundries suspension and Intel's Magdeburg cancellation removed the two largest planned contributions to that target and are cited among the structural causes of the gap.Source: Lowdown european-tech-sovereignty briefing

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