ASML warns Europe risks falling behind in semiconductor production

ASML, the Dutch company that holds a monopoly on the machines needed to make the world’s most advanced chips, has delivered a blunt message to its home continent: we’re not selling anything here.

Frank Heemskerk, ASML’s executive vice president, made the declaration at an event in Amsterdam, noting that the company has effectively stopped selling chipmaking equipment in Europe. The reason is straightforward: nobody is building new semiconductor fabrication plants on the continent.

The numbers tell the story

Europe accounted for just 1.6% of ASML’s €32.7 billion in net sales for 2025. That works out to roughly €524 million, a rounding error for a company whose machines can cost upwards of €300 million each.

The Netherlands, where ASML is headquartered, contributed a particularly striking figure: €4.7 million. That’s 0.014% of total sales. The company that builds the most sophisticated manufacturing equipment on the planet, in the heart of Europe, finds almost zero customers at home.

Europe, meanwhile, has its own plan on paper. The EU Chips Act set an ambitious target of capturing 20% of global chip production by 2030. With ASML selling essentially nothing on the continent, that goal looks less like a stretch and more like a fantasy.

A pattern of warnings

Heemskerk’s comments weren’t a one-off alarm bell. Throughout 2026, ASML’s leadership has been consistently raising the same concerns. CEO Christophe Fouquet and other executives have pointed to a familiar list of obstacles: insufficient investment, slow permitting processes, regulatory burdens, and the absence of local champions in semiconductor manufacturing.

The irony is thick. ASML is arguably the single most strategically important technology company in Europe. Its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems are the only machines on Earth capable of printing the nanoscale circuit patterns needed for cutting-edge chips. Every major chipmaker, from TSMC to Samsung to Intel, depends on ASML’s equipment. Yet the continent that houses this crown jewel of industrial technology can’t seem to attract anyone to actually use the machines locally.

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