Crolles
French town hosting STMicroelectronics fab where GlobalFoundries JV was suspended.
Last refreshed: 19 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What happens to Crolles now that GlobalFoundries has pulled out and the EU 20% chip target goes unmentioned?
Timeline for Crolles
Mentioned in: Brussels locks 27 May for CAIDA and Chips II
European Tech SovereigntyMentioned in: Chips Act II gives Brussels equity authority
European Tech SovereigntyMentioned in: Brussels stays silent on 20% chip goal
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European Tech SovereigntyMentioned in: Italy gets €211m photonic chip aid
European Tech Sovereignty- What is the Crolles semiconductor fab?
- 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
- 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
Background
Crolles is a town in the Isère department of southeastern France, home to STMicroelectronics' most important European manufacturing site. The Crolles facility has produced semiconductors for automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics applications for decades, using processes including FD-SOI — a French-developed transistor architecture considered a speciality of the site. In early 2024, GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics suspended their €7.5bn joint expansion at Crolles, citing insufficient customer demand, in a significant setback for French and EU semiconductor ambitions . The suspension Left STMicroelectronics without a strategic partner for the planned capacity expansion.
The Crolles project was part of the broader EU Chips Act ambition to double Europe's share of global semiconductor production to 20% by 2030. Its collapse mirrors Intel's cancellation of its €30bn advanced-node megafab in Magdeburg, Germany — announced in September 2024 and confirmed outright in early 2026 . Together, the two cancellations represent the largest single setback to the EU Chips Act's supply-side targets: Crolles was the French capacity anchor; Magdeburg was the leading-edge anchor. Brussels received its first Chips Act facility designations in October 2025, granting Open EU Foundry status to ESMC in Dresden while making no reference to the 20% market share target .
Crolles remains an active STMicroelectronics site under IPCEI Me/CT co-funding, but without the GlobalFoundries partnership its strategic ambition has been significantly scaled back. The FD-SOI processes produced at Crolles have niche value in automotive and RF applications, but the site no longer represents a credible PATH to European leadership in advanced-node logic manufacturing. France's industrial policy bet on Crolles — modelled on the kind of state-anchored fab strategy that succeeded in the US CHIPS Act — demonstrated that European demand simply did not materialise fast enough to justify the private capital commitment.
