The Minister of Economic Affairs sees opportunities to strengthen the European chip industry and remain competitive with the U.S. and China.
Minister Beljaarts is launching the plan for an EU “coalition of the willing” at this week’s G7 summit. The Netherlands is a guest at this summit of major economies, where the EU is also represented. The idea is that the to-be-formed chip coalition will give the EU more autonomy.
The G7 consists of the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, France, Germany and Italy. The theme “Industry, Tech and Digital” is central to the G7 summit in Rome, where the Netherlands plays a crucial role thanks to the presence of ASML.
ASML supplies chip manufacturers with machines essential for the production of processors. This makes the Netherlands an important interlocutor during the tech talks at the G7 summit. After all, the chip manufacturers of the G7 countries depend on ASML machines.
Strong together
During his visit to Rome, Minister Beljaarts stated that the Netherlands wants to support other EU countries by facilitating more plants for production, assembly, and packaging. “To have a stronger EU, between the other global players, to get leverage, it’s important to work together,” the minister said. The EU can gain more autonomy by building a strong European chip industry.
Beljaarts stressed that the Netherlands is ready to lead in the coalition it envisions. He is working on this coalition plan with Italy’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Adolfo Urso. Italy is a major player in the chip industry within Europe and has ambitious plans for billions of investments in this sector.
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