Dutch government in panic mode over keeping ASML in the country The Dutch government is reportedly concerned that chipmaking equipment vendor ASML may move operations out of the country due to policy decisions that would restrict its ability to hire skilled staff. Reports in The Netherlands say the government has even set up a task force dubbed "project Beethoven" to keep Europe's most …
Reports in The Netherlands say the government has even set up a task force dubbed "project Beethoven"
So government create a problem. Government set up a task force (likely to cost more) to put a patch over the problem. Probably to cause another problem. And this isnt a shot at the Dutch, this is government.
I don't really think it's possible totally to avoid these kinds of situations. The country wants to avoid businesses just getting workers in at will (because business WILL abuse a carte blanche situation, every time), so citizens still have a chance of finding jobs. At the same time legislation meant to protect sometimes end up impacting legitimate concerns and things have to be reassessed. Running a country is very complex and we tend to forget this with our simple knee jerk reactions to things.
It's like how the word bureaucracy is almost a swear word, but without it nothing would work, at all. It's the cog-wheels that makes everything happen.
They block everyone and then allow favoured companies a free pass, secretly, whilst other sectors die through lack of labour.
Brexit did this. Have fun finding that 'free childcare' the government promised everyone, as they have done everything they can to block foreign carers from working here.
Migrant labour is as important a resource as rare earth metals. Governments are killing their economies pandering to the racists and xenophobes. A spiral of decline such as the one the UK is now in, is difficult to slow, never mind reverse.
Brexit appears to have replace imported Europeans with imported Africans.
My Dad requires at home care. The first company supplying carers was entirely staffed by Nigerians. Funding changes meant a change to the care company. The 2nd company was entirely staffed by people from Zimbabwe.
Probably as caring a one of the jobs Brits refuse to do.
So government create a problem.
Or to be more specific, the upcoming government create a problem. That is the "slight" side effect when populist right wing parties get the mandate from their (in the Netherlands large, and historically omnipresent) base and practise what they have been shouting about. And as the age old law of nature goes: politics and business are bad bed partners. Funny observation always is that principles tend to be less binary when money starts evaporating...
Indeed. And it seems it is not just ASML. It seems to wake politicians up because it is the largest company the country has...
Additional info from the more neutral national broadcaster NOS (https://nos.nl/artikel/2511736-waarschuwing-asml-galmt-na-meer-techbedrijven-worstelen-met-standplaats-nederland
ASML's warning echoes, 'more tech companies struggle with location in the Netherlands'
NOS News • Yesterday, 08:38
Nando Kasteleijn - Editor Tech
Roel Bolsius - reporter The Hague
If you drive from the A2 onto the Kemperbaan in Veldhoven, you can't ignore it: this is the land of chip machine maker ASML. The company has grown tremendously in recent decades and wants to continue to do so. But that should be possible, is the warning that ASML has been issuing for some time. That warning has been received in The Hague . The outgoing cabinet has been put on edge and is looking at how it can accommodate the chip machine maker. Yesterday there were even broad consultations at ministerial level on the issue.
In January, chairman of the board Peter Wennink made no bones about it to the NOS. "We prefer to do it here. But if it is no longer possible here, we will do it somewhere else. At the end of the day, we have to deliver to our customers what our customers need. The chip industry is only going to grow. And that means that we then bring that value creation somewhere else." On Nieuwsuur, Wennink now repeats those words.
Long-term concerns
There is no question of leaving, as in the case of Shell and Unilever in recent years. According to sources in The Hague, that's not what the concerns are about. The fear is that ASML will choose to make investments mainly abroad in the coming years. The result may be that the Netherlands becomes much less relevant in the long term, so less relevant that a departure still becomes an option.
ASML is by far the largest Dutch company in terms of market capitalisation. With a value of 360 billion euros, it is worth almost three times as much as five other large listed Dutch companies KPN, ING, ABN Amro, Heineken and Philips combined.
'Not just ASML'
Sources emphasize to the NOS that it is not just about ASML. The chip machine maker is part of an area called the Brainport. There are more tech companies there that are struggling with the same problems. It is about attracting sufficient talent, the housing shortage, whether or not English is spoken at universities, space on the power grid and sufficient infrastructure in the region.
For example, there is chip manufacturer NXP. That company does not want to comment on what is happening around ASML, but emphasizes that it has been concerned about the business climate for some time. "We applaud any support from the government to maintain or improve the business climate in the Netherlands."
In The Hague, meanwhile, they also see that competition is strong, both from Europe, the US and Asia. Billions of euros in subsidies are being sprinkled around to bring in important companies. ASML has been saying for some time that it will continue to grow no matter what, because the demand for its machines continues to increase.
An ASML employee in the dust-free area where part of the production process takes place
This morning it was suggested that France is in the picture as a place for growth. There is no concrete indication that ASML is looking specifically at that country. "In an ideal world, you would keep it all together in Veldhoven," says Daniel Citroen, technology sector specialist at ING. "That's many times more efficient."
But when looking beyond national borders, countries France and Germany quickly come into the picture. "Those are the two countries that are busiest with the European Chips Act," says Citroen. This makes it easier for countries to give large sums of subsidies to companies in exchange for large investments. In this way, Germany, for example, has managed to entice Intel to build a large production site.
In fact, ASML is also saying to the Dutch government: do your best for us. This immediately becomes politically complicated, especially with forming parties that may have a different view on, for example, attracting foreign talent. It is an uncertain factor that outgoing Prime Minister Rutte cannot take away in any way. Generously pulling out the purse strings for subsidies will also be complicated for a caretaker cabinet.
IN TEXT BOX
Specific tax measures
Apart from the above issues, the business community is also faced with a number of tax measures. First of all, the expat scheme has been cut back since this year, while according to companies, this scheme is necessary to attract scarce talent to the Netherlands. In addition, the purchase of own shares. The House of Representatives wants to tax them to finance a higher minimum wage, while the government is working on alternative scenarios. And it's about the innovation box. This is a special rate within the corporate income tax that aims to stimulate innovation.
But the most important thing that the business community wants when it comes to the business climate and taxes is that it does not change too often and too quickly.
Populist right-wing governements never fail to promote a policy that sounds great to their base, but is invariably wrong-headed.
Same thing with the current Finnish governement. Here, too, all technology companies are aghast at their proposed immigration policies, just to mention one example.
The government did create a problem, and it is not the leftist twist "Right wing crackdown on immigration".
Dutch right wing politicians welcome immigrants who contribute in a positive manner to Dutch society.
As long production of Lithography machines is not a mainstream activity in Africa, it seems doubtful the thousands immigrants entering Dutch soil every week will be of any use to ASML.
The problem Dutch government created that makes it difficult to attract skilled foreign staff are the nightmarish taxation levels.
It is not the only 40-ish% income tax, 21% VAT, record holder of gas prices in Europe, cars are 2-3 times more expensive than in neighboring countries, parking rates even in boring towns are such they often exceed the expenses when shopping and high communal taxes for house owners. This easily adds up to a 60%-70% taxation level of gross income and the constant perception of being robbed by a cancerous state whose bloat is suffocating.
Government policies also caused housing costs rise to a level where life becomes a luxury.
@codejunky
From your comment- and the fact you enthusiastically jumped in here- it sounds like you're practically wetting yourself at the merest prospect of legitimising any potential gloating on your part that the Netherlands is supposedly a Euro-commie hellhole that got what it deserves because it didn't meet your idea of a US-style, low-tax, laissez-faire capitalist utopia. Amirite?
Of course, I'm *sure* that @naive is a completely unbiased source, given their references to "leftists" and calling George Soros a "Stalinist" and hero-worshipping Elon Musk elsewhere!
@AC
"Amirite?"
No. Actually I responded as I did to naive because he sounds like the people over there that I know. When I was there the dislike for their government as sell outs and not representing the people was in the open and their support for Wilders as a last hope to stop the country falling into increasing madness. It wasnt extremist opinions pushing them that way, it was their country being dragged down and the gov not seemingly doing much to stop it.
Problems with electricity grid congestion affecting industrial power supplies and attempts to limit nitrogen emissions are also said to be issues raised by the company.
More proof that there's a concerted effort to undermine Western industry and food security all in the name of green targets. It's not like these emissions, be it CO2 or N2, won't be released, they'll just happen in jurisdictions with less stringent rules.
It's time for the ordinary people to start questioning who really benefits from the implementation of these policies.
If we're talking about Nuclear, 22 countries just signed an agreement to triple nuclear capacity. US, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, Republic of Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the UK
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/nuclear-energy-makes-history-as-final-cop28-agreement-calls-for-faster-deployment
I see the Netherlands are in there but unless they use the new modular reactors it'll take years before they'll get it.
If Germany continues to de-industrialise maybe they won't need electricity in future. They'll all have to stick with cold showers.
>" end tax breaks for highly skilled foreign employees"
They still have this?
In the late 90s when I was looking at a job at ESA there was an insane deal where foreigner tech workers could choose to just pay flat 20% tax for 10years (IIRC) in the Netherlands
So ASML complaining isn't woke green euro-hippie. It's like Goldman-Sachs claiming it's going to move to Canada if the Carried Interest tax credit on Hedge Fund managers is revoked.
I worked as a contractor at ASML and yes there are tax breaks to attract highly qualified workers.
The region also positively encourages high tech workers to move to there.
I was offered a permanent job and turned it down.. damn stupid decision.
With Brexit I don;t know how hard it would be to contract in NL now - at the time I just hopped on a Ryanair flight and turned up for work on a Monday.
We are removing the loophole that allow foreigner workers to pay no tax - Except for the vital semiconductor company ASML
And of course NXP semiconductor
And national champions like Philips and ING
And inter-government agencies like ESA and Airbus
and culturally important companies like Heineken
And foreign inward investment companies like Microsoft and Amazon
But other than this - we are clamping down on foreign high tech workers
Assuming the media are correct, there has indeed been a worker shortage for a while.
In addition, there were and are still considerable delays in construction of roads and buildings due to permits not being issued, with the cited reason being related to insufficient room in the N2 budget.
The remark about energy prices is also true. This can be attributed to EV/solar/heatpump subsidies, giving the coal and nuclear industry a hard time, running out of natural gas in the north of the country, the the choice to stop purchasing natural gas from an incredibly affordable supplier...
I recall reading a history of lithography recently that said that ASML came about due to the acquisition of lithographic technologies from a US company. This is fundamental to how the US exerts control over ASML in that one of the conditions of the sale is that the company would abide by US export regulations.
Now the technology's on the move again. This is quite a normal process in international business. you run out of room (and markets) in country 'A' so you set up shop in country 'B'. Unfortunately the logical choice for a new facility would be in.....pause for dramatic effect....China since its the only country with the resources, infrastructure and personnel to host such a large scale undertaking. Siting the facility anywhere else would first require significant long term investment first because they either lack the necessary components or their resources are already maxed out.
Yes, that would work, and they can and do try it, but it is expensive and there is usually a long lead time between starting the program and having someone who can contribute. If your situation is that there are no or few qualified people, then it makes sense. If the situation is that there are many qualified people, just not here, then they often investigate either bringing some of those people here or going where those people want to be instead. It's not that crazy an idea to try that if there are people who could do the job.
And I think Cymer was the originator of the DUV light source too.
ASML are working on a new EUV 'light' source as the current tin plasma is hecking cool but oh so horribly inefficient. It is currently multi-MW input for only hundreds of watts output. Not sure who they are working with on the new light source though.
The vast majority of the comments I see are debating this like its an internal thing to the Dutch, but this is all because the US are forcing laws on companies outside their physical borders or control. Its messed up and incredibly worrying that the US is able to exert country changing influence on companies they are no part of and thus get to directly influence global markets by telling various companies to do what america says, not what their own country says.
And of.course everyone agree with the tyrannical US because "they know best"
.*Ah-merica! Ah-merica!*
*AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!*
*COMING AGAIN TO SAVE THE MOTHERFUCKING DAY YEAH!*
A trade war between the US and the Netherlands, besides being idiotic and overwhelmingly improbable, would be a disaster for ASML. ASML makes the only EUV lithography machines, but those machines are useless without the extremely pure silicon wafers required for the smallest process nodes, and the US is the only source of those. And that doesn't appear likely to change anytime soon. See the discussion in Conway's Material World.
Of course, ASML isn't selling EUV litho equipment in the US (in any significant way). Sibelco / Quartz Corp aren't selling the ultra-pure silicon feedstock in the Netherlands, nor is SEH selling those silicon wafers there. The consumers are TSMC and Samsung. So it's already trilateral; and Sibelco is Belgian-owned, and SEH is Japanese-owned, even if they're manufacturing in the US.
It's almost like there's some sort of complex, global web of trade relations at work.
That's because most of this isn't related to the US. How hard it is to get workers is not related to the US. Whether to hire them in the Netherlands, france, Germany, or somewhere else is not related to the US. Whether there are tax incentives or not is not related to the US.
There is a separate situation regarding export controls that the US has put on ASML's technology, and other comments have clarified why this is the case, and that affects ASML's ability to export to China, but that isn't the major issue here unless ASML is considering actually building their new manufacturing location in China. I'm pretty sure they weren't going to do that even if they were still selling there. Now if you want to argue that the US's export regulations shouldn't apply, that ASML should ignore them (they have the choice to do so, but it would probably require them to move all of their assets outside the United States and they might not be able to sell there anymore), or that there should be an international dispute about that, feel free to make that argument. Don't pretend that it is an important factor to the thing this article is about, though.
ASML not being able to sell to the US is largely irrelevant. Not many people believe in these dreams of US chip autarky, particularly for the latest process nodes. Or in the fantasy of moving TSMC's production to the US. The fact is, the US would hardly notice a ban on EUV litho equipment.
I note that UK was not mentioned as an option for relocation.
Immigration into UK is now over 600,000 a bit more than than the target in Camerons reign of 20,000.
All since 2016.
How ironic that Brexit was sold by having control over immigration and ended up by not having any control whatsoever.
Given that EU citizens have a high standard of education, even replacing them with developing country citizens is going to deskill the UK workforce.
Consequence - smart companies will avoid UK!
ASML is being required to limit nitrogen emissions from its factories?
This sounded very weird to me; emitting N2 into the atmosphere, like emitting, say, Argon, hardly counts as a form of pollution, as that's just a natural part of the atmosphere.
But then I realized there could be other ways to emit nitrogen that are harmful. For example, if they released ammonia, or other nitrogen compounds, in their wastewater, that would act as a fertilizer, upsettilng the balance of life in nearby rivers.
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