Supply chain responsibility – and especially the topic of ‘conflict minerals’ – has become increasingly important in the last few years. The term ‘conflict minerals’ refers to the mining and trading of certain minerals in conflict areas in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries. As these minerals are also used in the making of semiconductor equipment, ASML is closely monitoring developments around this issue.

Another emerging trend we are closely following concerns reporting. The topic of integrated reporting is currently on the agenda of the organization that sets the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The credit crunch made clear that it is also important to have a view of companies’ non-financial performance. The IFRS organization is working with relevant stakeholders on guidelines to integrate the reporting of companies’ financial and non-financial performance by 2015.