ASML CEO says EU Commission should not try to direct 'strategic projects'

By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM, June 5 (Reuters) - The CEO of top European tech firm ASML on Friday welcomed most proposals made by the EU Commission this week to improve Europe's tech sovereignty but cautioned against plans for its involvement in steering or monitoring "strategic projects" eligible for state aid.

Such projects "fundamentally need to respond to the needs of industry" and are better off left to firms to propose, Christopher Fouquet said in a LinkedIn post.

"We need to avoid the risk of over-complication and bureaucracy, while relying on private sector expertise," Fouquet said.

Fouquet’s remarks are among the first from a leading figure in European industry to the package, which is the centrepiece of Brussels’ plan to close the bloc’s technology gap with the United States and Asia.

The plan includes measures to stimulate demand for European-made chips and local cloud services. Fouquet said the Commission's new focus on demand-driven policy is a positive development.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Joe Bavier)