About

Mission and Background

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Screening

Investment screening refers to legal or policy tools for reviewing, altering, or even blocking inward foreign investment for public policy considerations.

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Protection

Protection of foreign investment is a broad concept referring to any form of legal guarantee or insurance that investments made will not be economically lost through the materialisation of political risk.

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Facilitation

Legal and policy challenges relating to the facilitation of foreign investment, ie providing an investment friendly regulatory and business environment.

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Security

Investment security refers to the freedom from, or resilience against, potential harm or other unwanted coercive change caused by investments due to foreign ownership or influence.

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Regulation

The study of the regulation of foreign investment is devoted to such rules and regulations which, in law or in effect, treat foreign investments differently from domestic ones.

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Strategy

Foreign Investment Strategy refers to a plan of action designed to achieve long-term or overall aims relating to foreign investments.

The CELIS Institute's Mission

The CELIS Institute embodies thought leadership in economic security and investment screening. The CELIS Institute drives critical dialogue in economic security. Our community shapes policies across Europe, the Atlantic, and with democratic allies globally. Our platform is where policy, industry, and academia converge to redefine cross-border investment and trade in the context of security, public order, and competitiveness.

Our activities

The Institute’s activities focus on strategy-oriented analysis through its publications and events. The CELIS Institute has a track record of attracting the best and brightest practitioners and scholars to its activities, who have held or gone on to prominent positions in government, the private sector or academia. As a result, the Institute benefits from a strong network of supporters in all corners of the policymaking, legal practice, investor and academic communities.

  • CELIS Events. The CELIS flagship event is the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS), which serves to enhance the Institute’s analytical capacity, facilitate the shaping of common approaches and best practices, as well as to foster a trusted community of economic security experts. A marketplace of ideas, CELIS events bring together EU officials, national experts, diplomats, private practitioners, inhouse lawyers, academics, business leaders, thinktankers, and representatives of civil society and the media from across Europe and beyond. Other high-profile, low-key events include special symposia, seminars, or expert workshops, as well as training in investment compliance and risk control. Participation in CELIS events is by invitation only.
  • CELIS Research. In addition to its own research output, such as reports, peer-reviewed articles, and books, the CELIS Institute also welcomes for publications and regularly publishes contributions by other scholars and practitioners interested in the intersection of security and investments, whether from a legal, economic, or policy perspective.
  • CELIS Tools. The CELIS Knowledge Hub hosted on the CELIS Institute website celis.institute is the most comprehensive and up to date online tool available for foreign investment screening. Through its network of Country Reporters, the Institute provides full coverage of EU and global screening regimes, including legislation, guidance, court judgments, summaries, academic articles, policy briefs, and is updated up to several times a day. It provides blog posts and news updates in this rapidly developing area, a target search tool, an FDI screening map, and other resources including podcasts.
  • CELIS Network. A key part of the Institute’s mission is to inform and prepare the investment policy experts and policymakers of today and tomorrow. For this purpose, the Institute every year welcomes an international cohort of fellows from a wide range of backgrounds, disciplines, and career stages to exchange ideas with one another and with the broader CELIS community of staff, fellows, affiliates, interns, and alumni. 

Our funding

The Institute is financially independent and receives no general core funding from any government or private source, apart from the individual-bench fees of CELIS Fellows and contributions of CELIS Patrons. Research projects and events are open to funding by a wide variety of bodies including research councils, trusts and foundations, law firms, national governments, the European Commission and Parliament, and non-governmental organisations.

As a research, community, policy, and training platform committed to the highest standards of organizational, intellectual, and personal integrity, the CELIS Institute maintains strict intellectual independence and sole editorial direction and control over its ideas, projects, publications, events, and other research activities. The Institute does not take institutional positions on policy issues and the content of its publications reflects the views of their authors alone. In keeping with its mission and values, the Institute does not engage in lobbying activity and complies fully with all applicable lobbying laws. The Institute will not engage in any representational activities or advocacy on behalf of any entities or interests and, to the extent that the Institute accepts funding, its activities will be limited to bona fide scholastic, academic, and research-related activities, consistent with applicable law.

The CELIS Institute enjoys the status of charitable enterprise. It can also (co-)finance itself through donations and issue so-called donation receipts. 

The difference between donation and sponsorship is as follows: A donation is free of any consideration and supports a charitable purpose in full. All other support of the Institute's work where some sort of consideration by the sponsor is required - such as the display of a company logo at the CELIS Institute's website - qualifies as sponsorship. Instead of a donation receipt, an invoice is issued for sponsoring and any taxes that may be due are shown on it.

Sponsoring is particularly interesting for companies because they can deduct the sponsored amount as operating costs for tax purposes.

For individuals, the tax authorities recognise donations as so-called special expenses, so that income tax is reduced.

Equal opportunities

The CELIS Institute is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive research environment, without discrimination based on race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity, or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age. The CELIS Institute is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

The Institute's history and status

The CELIS Institute was set up in 2020 as a permanent successor to the International Conference on a Common European Law on Investment Screening (CELIS) in 2019. A multi-stakeholder initiative, principally funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, CELIS resulted in the very first, interdisciplinary grounded, comprehensive appraisal of EU foreign investment control, published in the inaugural volume of the Yearbook of Socio-Economic Constitutions in 2021 (Springer).

Following a German tradition that scientific institutes do not have a special legal form, but are carried by the individual scientists, the CELIS Institute also did not have a special legal form. In order to meet the requirements in the growing activities and cooperation with the Institute's European and international partners, since 2023 the Institute operates as a charitable entrepreneurial enterprise with limited liability under German law (gemeinnützige Unternehmergesellschaft (gUG (haftungsbeschränkt)).

Accordingly, the statutes of the enterprise state: "The Enterprise shall exclusively and directly pursue charitable purposes within the meaning of the section 'Tax-privileged purposes' of the German Tax Code. The purpose of the enterprise is to promote science and research as well as the promotion of adult and professional education in the field of the regulation of cross-border economic processes and their political, social, and economic foundations, including the settlement of disputes in this respect, as well as the facilitation of foreign trade and the raising of funds for the realisation of these tax-privileged purposes."

The non-profit character excludes a distribution of profits to the shareholders. According to law, all profits must be used to fulfil the charitable purpose set out in the statutes of the enterprise. Only projects that are in line with the non-profit purpose may be supported. Entrepreneurial activity must serve the fulfilment of the charitable purpose, not the maximisation of profit. Interest-bearing investments are not permitted.

In terms of transparency, the statutes of the enterprise are notarised and entered into in the Commercial Registry Berlin, No HRB 255289 B. Furthermore, CELIS Institute is required by law to keep double-entry accounts and to prepare annual financial statements consisting of a balance sheet, a profit and loss account and annex.

The CELIS Institute is headquartered in Berlin. 

If you would like to get involved in the Institute's work, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

People

Board of Directors

Steering Group

Steffen Hindelang
Professor i internationell investerings- och handelsrätt vid Juridiska institutionen, Professorer, lärare, forskare
Foto Mikael Wallerstedt BILDEN ÄR FRIKÖPT AV UPPSALA UNIVERSITET

Steffen Hindelang

Executive Director | CELIS Institute
Co-Founder | CELIS Initiative

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Lena Hornkohl

Director | CELIS Institute
Reseach Agenda

Norbert Bisky und Johann König, Berlin

Roland Stein

Director | CELIS Institute
CFIS | Training

Board Members

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Andrea Berger Athens

Deputy Assistant Director
CELIS Institute

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Jonas Fechter

Deputy Assistant Director
CELIS Institute

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Janosch Wiesenthal

Deputy Assistant Director
CELIS Institute

Senior Advisors to the Institute

US and Transatlantic

Client: John Kabaelo
Date: 2.24.2018
Photographer: Mark Finkenstaedt
Location: John Kabaelo

John Kabealo

Senior Advisor
CELIS Institute

Contributors

CELIS Board of Country Reporters and Assistant Country Reporters

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Jesús García Aparicio

CELIS Country Reporter Spain
CELIS Institute

Christoph Arhold

Christoph Arhold

CELIS Senior Fellow
CELIS Institute

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Paula Arroyo

 Assistant Country Reporter Spain
CELIS Institute

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Georgiana Badescu

  Country Reporter Romania
CELIS Institute

Phil Baumann

Phil Baumann

Country Reporter Switzerland
CELIS Institute

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Shokhrukh Bekmurzaev

Assistant Country Reporter Uzbekistan
CELIS Institute

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Cheng Bian

Assistant Country Reporter China
CELIS Institute

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Pantelis Christofides

Country Reporter Cyprus
CELIS Institute

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Iliana Boycheva

 Country Reporter Bulgaria
CELIS Institute

Carolina

Carolina Dackö

Country Reporter Sweden
CELIS Institute

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Pietro Chiarelli

Assistant Country Reporter France
CELIS Institute

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Thijs De Cuyper

Assistant Country Reporter Belgium
CELIS Institute

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Maria Fanou

Country Reporter Greece
CELIS Institute

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Rinat Gareev

Assistant Country Reporter Russia
CELIS Institute

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Andrea Gemmi

Assistant Country Reporter Italy
CELIS Institute

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Wessel Geursen

Country Reporter Netherlands
CELIS Institute

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Charlotte Hafstad

Country Reporter Norway
CELIS Institute

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Marek Jaśkowski

Assistant Country Reporter Poland
CELIS Institute

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Argha Kumar Jena

Assistant Country Reporter India
CELIS Institute

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Maria Kalinowska

Assistant Country Reporter Poland
CELIS Institute

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Ruben Koslar

Country Reporter France
CELIS Institute

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Jochem de Kok

Country Reporter Netherlands
CELIS Institute

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Bálint Kovács

Assistant Country Reporter Hungary
CELIS Institute

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Regina Kröll

 CELIS Senior Fellow
CELIS Institute

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Hannes Lenk

Assistant Country Reporter Sweden
CELIS Institute

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Linda Lorenzon

Assistant Country Reporter Italy
CELIS Institute

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Christos Karetsos

Assistant Country Reporter United Kingdom
CELIS Institute

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Gaurav Majumdar

Assistant Country Reporter India
CELIS Institute

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Charles Ho Wang Mak

Assistant Country Reporter China
CELIS Institute

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Christiana Manea

Assistant Country Reporter Romania
CELIS Institute

Claudia Manrique

Claudia Gladys Manrique Carpio

Assistant Country Reporter Peru
CELIS Institute

Luka-Marosiuk

Luka Marosiuk

Assistant Country Reporter Serbia
CELIS Institute

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Galo Marquez

Assistant Country Reporter Mexico
CELIS Institute

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Csongor István Nagy

Country Reporter Hungary
CELIS Institute

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Thomas Papadopoulos

Country Reporter Cyprus
CELIS Institute

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Hussain Raja

Assistant Country Reporter Denmark
CELIS Institute

Safar Safarli

Safar Safarli

Assistant Country Reporter Azerbaijan
CELIS Institute

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Karl Hepp de Sevelings

Country Reporter France
CELIS Institute

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Federico Riganti

Assistant Country Reporter Italy
CELIS Institute

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Matej Šimalčík

 Country Reporter Slovakia
CELIS Institute

Andrea Sacco Ginevri

Andrea Sacco Ginevri

Country Reporter Italy
CELIS Institute

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Martin Svec

Country Reporter Czech Republic
CELIS Institute

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Ondřej Svoboda

Country Reporter Czech Republic
CELIS Institute

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Suzana Tavares

Country Reporter Portugal
CELIS Institute

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Marta Nunes Vincente

Assistant Country Reporter Portugal
CELIS Institute

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Anton Tugushev

Assistant Country Reporter Russia
CELIS Institute

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Volker Weiss

Country Reporter Austria
CELIS Institute

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Rebecca Vikjær-Andresen

Country Reporter Denmark
CELIS Institute

Elvis Zerva

Elvis Zerva

Assistant Country Reporter Albania
CELIS Institute

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Tania Voon

 Country Reporter Australia
CELIS Institute

Academic Advisors

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Andreas Moberg

Academic Advisor | CELIS Institute
Co-Founder | CELIS Initiative

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J. Hillebrand Pohl

Academic Advisor | CELIS Institute
Former Director | CELIS Institute

CELIS Institute Core Team

Managing Editor

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Friedrich Trende

Managing Content Editor
CELIS Institute

Head of Event and Sponsor Relations

Joanna (7)

Joanna Kirstine Thomsen

Head of Event and Sponsor Relations
CELIS Institute

Patrons

CFIS 23 Patrons and Sponsors

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CFIS 22 Patrons and Sponsors

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