CEO of Europe’s biggest tech company ASML bluntly tells EU: Why should you even intervene, when you don't even have your own

The CEO of Europe’s most valuable tech company, ASML, has delivered a blunt reality check to European Union (EU) policymakers. Christophe Fouquet, the chief executive of Dutch chip equipment giant ASML, questioned the EU’s aggressive stance on technology independence, warning Brussels against interfering in global semiconductor supply chains when the continent lacks the infrastructure to back it up.

“If you don’t have your own supply chain, then how do you intervene [in the supply chain]?” Fouquet told the Financial Times, adding, “People say: ‘let’s buy European first.’ I think it’s great, but you have got to have something to buy from.”

Europe wants to reduce reliance on US tech

Fouquet’s comments arrived just days after the EU unveiled a semiconductor strategy, proposing inclusion of ‘controversial’ emergency powers that would allow Brussels to directly control and divert chip supplies during global shortages.

The new rules came at a time when European policymakers look to break their heavy dependence on US tech giants and Asian manufacturers. While some officials want aggressive government intervention, industry leaders argue the EU should instead focus on creating a business environment that allows domestic companies to scale up and compete globally.

Countries like France are pushing for “buy European” clauses in public contracts. However, critics point out that favouring local businesses is meaningless if competitive European alternatives do not exist in the first place.

Currently, Europe makes up an incredibly tiny fraction of ASML's business. Only about 1% of the company's sales happen in Europe, while an 80% flow into Asia. Fouquet noted that this massive imbalance leaves ASML highly “exposed,” because the natural state of their business requires being physically close to their customers.

To fix this gap, Fouquet argues that Europe needs to build as “many champions as possible” across the semiconductor pipeline, with the ultimate goal of bringing Europe’s share of global chip activity closer to its 18 percent share of the world's GDP.

‘Red Tape is slowing down the AI boom’

According to Fouquet, European bureaucracy is actively holding the continent back from keeping pace with global rivals.

Due to strict planning constraints and lengthy local permitting processes, it takes roughly four years to construct a single factory in Europe, the Financial Times said. Finding, hiring and training qualified staff, alongside expanding local supplier networks, remain severe roadblocks to rapid growth. Fouquet also warned that the EU must desperately avoid heavy-handed regulations that end up driving promising tech startups out of the continent entirely.

The warning comes as the AI boom causes demand for advanced chips to vastly outpace what manufacturers can produce. ASML builds the highly complex Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines required to make the world's most advanced microchips.

To meet the AI surge, ASML is expanding near its headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, with plans to boost the output of its newest EUV machines by 50% this year. ASML is also said to be looking to step up and play a much larger role as a direct investor in the broader European technology ecosystem.