The piece below was written by a guest writer, councillor Tjeerd Ritmeester. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Eindhoven News (Ed).
The Eindhoven city council is a very dynamic environment. Some days, we discuss highly local topics like the shape of pavement tiles. On other days, we discuss matters of national or even European importance.
Last week was one such occasion. The city council had to give its opinion about the proposed acquisition of Brainport Industries Campus 1 (BIC1). Dozens of companies are located on campus, employing 2000 people and offering space to 500 students. Moreover, BIC1 is an environment where businesses and educational institutions cooperate to develop and produce new high-tech products and innovations.
The significance of buying BIC1 should not be underestimated. It is not just about the financial aspect (while the exact amount remains confidential, council members know it). More importantly, this acquisition underscores the exceptional nature of a municipality undertaking such a significant and strategic investment. Typically, decisions of this calibre fall within the jurisdiction of national governments.
The purchase of BIC1 reflects the extraordinary times we are living in. In Eindhoven and the Brainport region, we are actively shaping the economy of the future. Brainport’s growth is crucial to our economic and societal well-being, ensuring not only today’s jobs but also those of future generations. This doesn’t just apply to high-tech but all sectors. Consequently, Brainport’s success will play a decisive role in maintaining our prosperity and security in the future.
However, this is easier said than done. The global race for control over the tech sector is serious. Eindhoven experienced this firsthand when the High Tech Campus (HTC) was sold in 2021 by its previous owner, Marcel Boekhoorn. Despite numerous efforts to prevent it, HTC was ultimately acquired by a Singaporean state-owned entity.
The HTC case served as a wake-up call for Eindhoven and The Hague. Strategic assets like HTC and BIC1 should never fall into foreign hands, either public or private. While Singapore and the Netherlands enjoy strong cooperation in many areas, we still depend on a foreign government for a crucial aspect of our economy. Furthermore, if a strategic asset were to be controlled by an uncooperative or even hostile actor, our ambitions and economic security could have severe consequences.
Since the sale of HTC, the Dutch government has introduced a range of laws and regulations to prevent similar scenarios from happening again or even worse. However, achieving strategic autonomy requires direct control over our strategic economic assets. The acquisition of BIC1 is a step in that direction.
Working on these issues is fascinating as a city council member. Decisions like these have long-term implications for Eindhoven and far beyond our municipality’s borders. They highlight our city is unique trajectory and profoundly impact the local, national, and European economies for decades to come. It’s not every day that such political decisions and debates happen, but in Eindhoven, they’re becoming increasingly common.
Moreover, such decisions also demand that city council members think in new ways. For example, it means we must remain highly aware of global developments, not just local affairs. That can be a challenge. The geopolitical factors underlying such decisions are rarely part of local discussions unless acquisitions like BIC1 happen. Yet, those factors are becoming increasingly important to our local decision-making process.
Just consider some of the key decisions we’ve made in recent years: projects like KnoopXL, the expansion of ASML, and the purchase of BIC1. While these initiatives profoundly shape the future of our city, their impact reaches beyond Eindhoven, influencing the entire country and even Europe. How can we genuinely assess their importance if unaware of what is happening worldwide?
This reality forces us as a city council to adopt new perspectives and to look beyond Eindhoven’s borders, which I find incredibly exciting.
Guest writer: Tjeerd Ritmeester, a member of the Eindhoven city council.
