CELIS Blog

Luxembourg – FDI Regime coming into force on 1 September 2023 The Luxembourg law of 14 July 2023 introduces a new foreign direct investment regime with a suspensory mandatory notification requirement in relation to investments in a broad range of sectors. Luxembourg is the latest European jurisdiction to pass broad FDI legislation and its FDI regime is coming into force ...

By Bálint Kovács In its judgment[1] published on 13 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Hungary’s decision to prohibit an investment by a foreign-owned Hungarian company aiming to acquire a Hungarian company violated the freedom of establishment. The prohibition involved the use of the novel foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanism and had ...

Spain – Spanish FDI Regulation enacted on 4 July 2023 Over the past three years, Spain has significantly strengthened its FDI regime. On 4 July 2023, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved the Royal Decree 571/2023 of 4 July on foreign investments and therewith amended and developed a number of rules that had been introduced by the Spanish FI authorities ...

Belgium – FDI screening regime enters into force 1 July 2023 As almost all EU Member States have introduced a foreign direct investment screening mechanism into their law, it is now Belgium’s turn: on July 1 2023, Belgium’s new FDI screening regulations, drafted in June 2022, will take effect. As there is a significant increase in foreign investments by fast-growing ...

Netherlands: Investment screening act comes into force on 1 June 2023 On 1 June 2023 the Dutch general investment screening control rules will come into force. The Netherlands adopted the act already in 2022 and has therewith implemented the EU’s FDI Regulation 2019/452. Future investments in critical infrastructure or sensitive technology will have to be notified to the Dutch Minister ...

EU – Commission considers introducing an outbound investment screening mechanism On 30 March 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a speech in which she announced that the EU is preparing a mechanism for screening outbound investment. The speech was made during her visit to China on 5-6 April and addresses the threats that China poses to the ...

France – Considerable increase in international investments On 27 February 2023, the French government announced that the number of international investments in France had increased in 2022 compared to 2021: 1,725 investment decisions were recorded in France that year, an increase of 7% compared to 2021. Projects in the energy and recycling sectors have grown particularly strongly, but international investors ...

Estonia - Introduction of new FDI-regime On 25 January 2023, the Estonian Parliament has passed the Foreign Investment Reliability Assessment Act which will enter into force on 1 September 2023. The act will introduce the very first Foreign Direct Investment Screening (FDI) regime in Estonia. Under the new law foreign direct and indirect investments from non-EU investors will be covered ...

France – Extension of temporary FDI framework for another year On 23 December 2022, the French government published Decree No. 2022-1622 concerning the extension for another year of the temporary framework lowering the threshold for acquiring voting rights that may trigger FDI screening procedure in France from 25% to 10%. While this temporary regime, which entered into force in July ...

EU – Commission prepares revision of the EU’s FDI Screening Regulation In a communication on its work programme for 2023 dated 18.10.2022, the European Commission announced that it is ready to review the EU FDI Screening Regulation two years after its entry into force. The aim is to identify the necessary modifications that would improve its functioning and effectiveness. In ...