At first glance, the latest exchange between ASML and TSMC appears to be a familiar commercial disagreement. TSMC has indicated that it does not yet see a compelling business case for adopting ASML’s High NA EUV lithography systems, citing their considerable cost. ASML, meanwhile, has highlighted Intel’s commitment to High NA as evidence that the technology already has an important place in the industry’s future.
What makes this episode remarkable is not the disagreement itself, but the fact that two of the world’s most influential semiconductor companies appear to be negotiating their positions largely in public.
Major decisions about next-generation manufacturing technology are normally discussed behind closed doors. By communicating through earnings presentations, interviews and press releases, both companies are also speaking to investors, governments, customers and competitors. The discussion therefore extends well beyond a single purchasing decision. It is shaping expectations about where the semiconductor industry is heading next.
Yet the most important story may lie beneath the debate over High NA itself.
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Europe’s approach to industrial policy appears to be changing. Rather than viewing leading technology companies simply as market participants, the European Commission is increasingly engaging a small group of firms whose technologies underpin Europe’s long-term competitiveness.
Airbus, ASML, Ericsson, Mistral AI, Nokia, SAP and Siemens represent very different industries. Yet together they cover many of the technologies Europe considers strategically essential: semiconductors, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, aerospace, industrial software and advanced manufacturing.
Recent discussions with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggest that this is about more than individual policy consultations. They may signal the emergence of a new model of industrial cooperation—one in which Europe’s most strategically important technology companies help shape the continent’s future competitiveness.
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Europe’s energy transition is no longer simply about replacing fossil fuels. It is redesigning the systems that produce, distribute, store and coordinate energy, turning technological innovation into the strategic infrastructure of Europe’s future economy.
Europe’s energy transition is entering a new phase. Individual technologies still matter, but the larger challenge is how they connect into one coherent energy system.
Electricity generation, storage, transmission, industrial demand and digital coordination are becoming increasingly interdependent. Together, they form the foundations of Europe’s future competitiveness.
Europe’s Energy Architecture explores that transformation. Rather than focusing on individual innovations, the series examines how technologies, infrastructure, markets and governance interact to build Europe’s next energy system.
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Stories do more than entertain. They help people understand themselves and the societies they inhabit. Through the example of Sala Beckett in Barcelona, this article explores how theatre, writing and dialogue transform human experience into shared understanding.
Latvia is redefining its role within Europe’s strategic landscape. Through transport corridors, digital connectivity, energy integration and resilient infrastructure, the country demonstrates that economic influence increasingly depends not on size, but on the ability to connect people, markets and critical systems.
The language of international politics is changing. As security, resilience, technological sovereignty and geopolitical competition dominate public debate, this Signal explores where human rights fit within the evolving architecture of the twenty-first century.
The Munich–Berlin corridor demonstrates how engineering, software, artificial intelligence and industrial infrastructure are converging into a new model of industrial intelligence. Future competitiveness will depend not on individual technologies, but on Europe’s ability to integrate them into one connected technological architecture.