CELIS Blog
The CELIS Blog: Fueling the Conversation on Economic Security. The CELIS Blog is a unique forum for current debates on international investment control and economic security law and practice more broadly. It brings the latest developments and analysis to you. From economic security (law) experts – to economic security (law) experts.
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Latest Blog Posts
An Indirect Encounter: Outbound Investment Screening and the Quiet Reach of International Investment Law
Author: Yanqin Mao (PhD Candidate, Durham Law School, Durham University) I. When Commercial Logic Meets Economic Security On 26 March 2026, German multinational BASF inaugurated its Zhanjiang Verbund site in China’s Guangdong province. At roughly €8.7 billion, the integrated chemical complex is the largest single investment in BASF’s more than 160-year history. From the company’s perspective, the commercial logic of the investment is straightforward. BASF’s ...
Continue reading Parallel Proceedings at the Intersection of FDI Screening and Investment Arbitration
Authors: Sally Pei (Arnold & Porter) and Joel Dahlquist (Arnold & Porter) Introduction States in Europe and beyond are increasingly screening incoming foreign direct investment (“FDI”). When a host State blocks or restricts an investment on security grounds, the affected investor may seek judicial review domestically, initiate investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”) proceedings under an applicable investment treaty, or pursue both in ...
Continue reading Navigating Treaty Liability for Conditional Approvals in Foreign Investment Screening
Author: Dean Merriman (Barrister at the Victorian Bar) I. Imposition of Conditions on Foreign Investment: Anecdotes from Australia It is well known that domestic investment screening authorities frequently are given the power to approve inbound foreign investments subject to the imposition of certain conditions, including on national security grounds. In Australia, the Foreign Acquisition and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) (“FATA”) permits the Australian ...
Continue reading Investment Screening Between Discretion and Arbitrariness – Charting the Borderlands
Authors: Steffen Hindelang (CELIS Institute; Uppsala University), Helene Schramm (CELIS Institute) and Liam McGrath (CELIS Institute) Introduction Foreign investment screening regimes are built on discretion. Screening decisions often turn on assessments of open-ended lists of risks to ‘national security’ – an inherently ambiguous concept (J Benton Heath 2022, p. 295), which is constantly evolving as States adjust to new threats and vulnerabilities (OECD, 2022, p. 16). The resulting broad margin of appreciation for screening ...
Continue reading Screening the Future: Building a Smarter European Economic Security Framework
Author: Szabolcs Nagy (Trade policy and investment diplomat, Permanent Representation of Hungary to the European Union) A New Screening Framework On 8 June 2026, the Council adopted the revised EU Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Screening Regulation. Following signature on 16 June and publication in the Official Journal shortly thereafter, it will enter into force 20 days after publication. Member States ...
Continue reading Disclosure and Confidentiality in Investment Screening
Author: Dorieke Overduin (Sovereign Arbitration Advisors) Introduction In order to assess risks posed by foreign direct investments to national security, authorities must understand not only the target business, but also the investor, its ownership structure, sources of financing, governance arrangements, and potential foreign state involvement. As a result, investment screening procedures impose extensive and often highly detailed disclosure obligations. This places investors ...
Continue reading Legal Standards, Evidentiary Threshold, Transparency and Due Process in the Context of Investment Screening and Investment Disputes
Author: Jonas Hallberg I. Legal Standards and Evidentiary Threshold Security assessments of a prospective investment necessarily involve an assessment of future contingencies; the evidentiary threshold cannot therefore be set unduly high. The deciding body must collect classified and secret information from its security agencies. Normally this is done in the form of opinions. Whatever evidentiary threshold is set, the security ...
Continue reading Fair and Equitable Investment Screening
Author: Dr. Bálint Kovács (University of Szeged) Introduction With the widespread adoption of investment screening by Western states, there is increasing evidence as to the ways in which this tool of economic security is implemented. Investment screening accommodates an important exception to open market principles: the national security imperative. The liberalisation of foreign direct investment (“FDI”) flows is now limited ...
Continue reading EU Sanctions and Investment Arbitration: An Attempt at Moving the Goalposts through Increased Securitisation?
Author: Alexandros Bakos ((Postdoctoral researcher, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, College of Law) Introduction After the Achmea and Komstroy sagas, marking the end of intra-European Union (EU) investor-state arbitration, the Union finds itself again at the centre of some investment arbitration drama. Sanctioned Russian investors are increasingly bringing arbitral claims against the EU and its Member States in the hope that ...
Continue reading Between Deadlines and Discretion: Timely Decision-Making in Investment Screening
Authors: Xueji Su (University of Macau) and Alessandro Zocchia (University of Macau) Introduction: The Pocket Veto Phenomenon Investment screening involves a procedurally layered process involving notification, jurisdictional assessment, inter-agency consultation, risk analysis, possible mitigation negotiations, and final clearance or prohibition. In this setting, time is not a neutral variable. Delay can operate with the same practical force as a formal prohibition: it may cause contractual long-stop ...
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The CELIS Blog always welcomes posts from economic security professionals that address current issues in international investment screening and economic security law and practice. Would you like to contribute to the Blog? Please contact our editors: blog@celis.institute
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