Speaking on Dutch television program De Balie, Frank Heemskerk, ASML’s executive vice president of public affairs, stated that the company is selling “absolutely nothing in Europe” because no chip factories are being built there. “There simply is no demand here for these kinds of highly specialised machines. That is the problem,” he said.
Europe accounted for 0% of ASML’s revenue in the first half of 2026, down from 1% in 2025 and 5% in 2024, according to the company’s earnings reports and investor presentations. In prior years, Europe’s share fluctuated between 2% and 5%.
While the European Union has subsidised new fab construction—including failed attempts to lure Intel—ASML argues that a different approach is needed. Heemskerk called on European governments to help create demand for European-made chips, encouraging major consumers to source locally so that semiconductor manufacturers have an economic reason to build factories in Europe.
“We need to make sure that some of those buyers — the customers of our customers — start talking much more closely with European manufacturers again. In areas such as artificial intelligence for industry, for example, there are still plenty of opportunities that Europe can seize. But you have to organise this collectively,” he said. Heemskerk noted that ASML is in talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about harnessing market power and dynamism.