A new European research program named EUCLIDES (Extreme UV Concept Lithography Development System) has been started in August 1998. The program headed by ASM Lithography (ASML), partnered by Carl Zeiss and Oxford Instruments, is evaluating EUVL as a viable lithographic solution for resolutions of 70 nm and below. This paper gives an overview of program objectives and status, including a summary of recent highlights.