When he opened the University Council meeting, the Executive Board President referred to the statements made by ASML chief executive Peter Wennink. In the Cursor of April 7th, the new member of the TU/e Supervisory Board stated that the Netherlands is too small for three technical universities; TU/e would do better to merge with TU Delft and the University of Twente.

“We are keen to offer reassurance,” said Mengelers. “We feel a merger is an interesting idea, but I wish to emphasize that for us it is a bridge too far.”

In his response, Baptiest Coopmans, President of the TU/e Supervisory Board, emphasized that the statements made by the ASML chief executive should be viewed in the light of his enthusiasm to contribute to the future of engineering and innovation in the Netherlands. “We will have to make choices if we are to continue to be successful in future. Peter is inspiring us with his ideas, and that is only a good thing.”