By Toby Sterling
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The Dutch government is talking with semiconductor equipment maker ASML (AS:ASML) to ensure that the Netherlands' largest company does not move to another country, or expand abroad, due to anti-immigration policies, the economy minister said.
The news was first reported by newspaper De Telegraaf, which cited anonymous sources and said the ministries involved had dubbed the effort "Operation Beethoven".
Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaansens would not address all aspects of the paper's report but in an interview with Reuters she confirmed that she was meeting ASML CEO Peter Wennink in The Hague on Wednesday as part of what she said were ongoing talks.
"I don't know if they would leave" the Netherlands, she said. "They want to grow. And they want to grow in such an amount, it puts a pressure on our infrastructure."
"That's why we're talking to them very intensively. Because we want to understand, is it something we can solve?"
The report follows comments made by ASML CEO Peter Wennink in January when he warned that his company was highly reliant on skilled foreign labour, after anti-immigration parties booked big gains in 2023 elections.
ASML declined to comment on Wednesday. However, Wennink spoke at an event in The Hague and said he was concerned the business climate in the Netherlands was worsening.
"Some of these elements that made us a great company, those elements are under pressure," he said, citing increasing regulation and a plan to scrap a tax break given to highly skilled immigrants.
POTENTIAL CURBS ON FOREIGN STUDENTS
Around 40% of ASML's 23,000 employees in the Netherlands are not Dutch. Europe's largest tech company sources parts from around the globe but currently assembles its machines in Veldhoven, Netherlands before shipping them to major computer chipmakers.
ASML dominates the market for lithography systems, used to help create the circuitry of chips. It is currently conducting one round of expansion and expects to need more in the coming years as the global demand for chips increases.
Multinationals Shell (LON:SHEL) and Unilever (LON:ULVR) departed the Netherlands in recent years following an unfavourable change in Dutch tax law.
Another policy under consideration by parties attempting to form a right wing government following the election is to limit the number of foreign students that can attend Dutch universities - a key source of labour for the country's tech firms.
"The consequences of limiting labour migration are large, we need those people to innovate," Wennink said in January. "If we can't get those people here, we will go somewhere where we can grow."
Though it would be difficult for the company to move its headquarters, De Telegraaf mentioned France as a possible destination for a company expansion, citing a single source.
Chipmakers across the globe are pouring billions of dollars in investment to set up new plants, encouraged by the rising use of semiconductors in everyday devices and generous subsidies from the United States and the EU aimed at keeping the West ahead of China in the race for cutting-edge technology.