Governor of Limburg Emile Roemer: roll out CO2 import tax plans at European level, otherwise companies will leave

To keep tech giant ASML in the Netherlands, the government, together with the Eindhoven region, is allocating 2.5 billion euros to improve the business climate for the microchip sector, it was announced last month. Roemer thinks that a similar investment is needed in Limburg.

The governor is concerned about the business climate in his province. “If people do not fully invest in making the Chemelot site more sustainable, companies located there will leave,” he warns. “Then we will lose 33,000 jobs here. While eighty percent of what is made there, we use every day. We cannot do without this important industry.”

Roemer thinks that making Chemelot more sustainable will require around two billion euros in the coming years. He believes that The Hague should open its wallet. “Companies also invest themselves. But what they need is certainty about the infrastructure. Consider the Delta Rhine Corrido, the underground pipelines that will run from Rotterdam to North Rhine-Westphalia. They must have a connection to the Chemelot site.”