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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CELIS–Arnold & Porter Blog Series on Investment Security x Investment Arbitration

Introducing the CELIS–Arnold & Porter Initiative on Investment Security x Investment Arbitration

Authors: Steffen Hindelang (Uppsala University; CELIS Institute), Helene Schramm (CELIS Institute) and Liam McGrath (CELIS Institute) Most international rules governing ...
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Constraints on the State’s Right to Screen Foreign Investments Prior to Market Entry

Authors: Steffen Hindelang (Uppsala University; CELIS Institute), Helene Schramm (CELIS Institute) and Liam McGrath (CELIS Institute)    Introduction  As a starting point, a State ...
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Post-Establishment Phase: FDI Screening Decisions and the Treatment of Retroactive Measures in Investment Arbitration

Authors: Bart Wasiak (Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (UK) LLP) and Naina Gupta (Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (UK) LLP)    Introduction  Decisions concerning the screening of foreign ...
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Shielding Foreign Investment Screening from Challenge under Investment Treaties

Author: Dr. Joshua Paine (University of Bristol)    Introduction  This post considers how States can design international investment agreements (“IIAs”) to ...
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German Administrative Courts Take the Plunge – First Rulings on German Investment Screening Procedures and their Time Frame

Authors: Dr. Roland M. Stein (BLOMSTEIN) and Henriette Wohlschläger (BLOMSTEIN)     Introduction  In light of the prevailing tense global geopolitical climate, investments are no longer regarded ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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CELIS Special Blog Series on the Revision of the FDI Screening Regulation

Introducing: The Foreign (Direct) Investment Screening Regulation – A blog series on the revision of FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452

Part I in the CELIS Blog Series on the Revision of the FDI Screening Regulation. Autors: Lena Hornkohl (University of Vienna)[1], Andrew Hill (AmCham EU, Brussels), Floor Doppen (University of ...
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Tug-of-War? Determining the mandatory scope for the new FDI Screening Regulation

Part 2 in the CELIS blogseries on the revision of FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452. Authors:  Andrew Hill (AmCham EU, Brussels), Floor Doppen (University of Antwerp), Leonard von Rummel (Partner, Blomstein) ...
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To Screen or not to Screen? Defining the Deals that Count

Part 3 in the CELIS blogseries on the revision of FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452. Authors:  Andrew Hill (AmCham EU, Brussels), Floor Doppen (University of Antwerp), Kaarli Eichhorn (Antitrust Partner, Jones ...
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The Devil is in the Details – The Real Screening Report

Part 4 in the CELIS blogseries on the revision of FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452. Authors: Floor Doppen (University of Antwerp), Andrew Hill (AmCham EU, Brussels) Introduction The Commission published its 5th ...
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The Elephant in the Room: Subsidiarity in Investment Screening in the EU

Part 5 in the CELIS blogseries on the revision of FDI Screening Regulation 2019/45 Authors: Andrew Hill (AmCham EU[1]), and Floor Doppen (University of Antwerp) Introduction White smoke poured over ...
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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, What’s the Outcome of the Trilogue?

Part 6 in the CELIS blogseries on the revision of FDI Screening Regulation 2019/45 Authors: Andrew Hill (Amcham Europe), and Floor Doppen (University of Antwerp) Introduction The clock has started ...
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CELIS–L&G Blog Series

Introducing: the CELIS-L&G Blogseries

Welcome, readers, to the inaugural blog post of a new collaboration between the academic journal Law & Geoeconomics (L&G) and the CELIS Institute. To set the tone, we decided to ...
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Proxies, Partners, or Opponents? Rethinking Business–Government Relations in Geoeconomic Competition

Authors: Olivier Schmitt (Royal Danish Defence College), Anna Vlasiuk Nibe (University of Southern Denmark) All articles in Law & Geoeconomics are available free of charge via Brill using the access token LGEO4U until 31 ...
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Why Economic Security Depends on Bureaucracy: The Hidden Side of Derisking

Authors:  M. Di Giulio (Associate Professor, Università di Genova), F. Baraldi (Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and M. Sguazzini (Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Università di Genova) This blog is part ...
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Can – and should – the EU align with US economic security policy?

Varg Folkman (Policy Analyst, the European Policy Centre) Introduction Back during Europe's summer of discontent in 2025, it went somewhat overlooked -  amidst the larger trade story -  that the ...
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The State of Exception in EU Investment Law

Author: Jochem de Kok (Affiliate Fellow at the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance of the University of Amsterdam and Senior Associate at A&O Shearma) This blog post is ...
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Regulating Critical Minerals and Economic Security in South America: Brazil, Chile, and Argentina in Comparative Perspective

Authors: Natália de Lima Figueiredo (Assistant Professor, Federal University of São Paolo) & Michelle Ratton Sanchez Badin (Associate Professor, FGV São Paulo School of Law) Introduction[1] "Economic security" has quickly ...
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The Small Yard Problem: How America and Japan De-Risk from China

Author: Timothy Cichanowicz (PhD Candidate, University of Kansas) This blog is part of the CELIS-L&G special series. All articles in Law & Geoeconomics are available free of charge via Brill using the ...
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Supply Chain Secondary Sanctions: How China Weaponised Lithuania’s Trade Links

Author: Verónica Fraile del Álamo (PhD Researcher, Australian National University) & Darren J. Lim (Senior Lecturer, Australian National University) This blog is part of the CELIS-L&G special series. All articles ...
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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 ...
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Latest Blog Posts

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – March 2024

Bulgaria – Amendments to the Bulgarian Investment Promotion Act On 12 March 2024, by virtue of amendments to the Investment Promotion Act, a national legal framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into Bulgaria related to security or public order has been introduced. The amendments to the Investment Promotion Act were published in the State Gazette, issue No. 20 ...
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Strengthening the Biting Effect of EU Restrictive Measures Via Criminal Law – Some Critical Remarks

By Lorenzo Bernardini, University of Luxembourg   This blog post summarizes some insights that are detailed in a forthcoming contribution to issue 1/2024 of the European Criminal Law Review (EuCLR). The author would like to express his heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Iryna Bogdanova for her kind invitation to contribute to the CELIS Blog.    1. EU restrictive measures and their ...
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Investment Screening in the UK under the 2021 National Security and Investment Act

By Agata Daszko, University of Göttingen   In recent years the United Kingdom (UK) has joined many States in updating its legislation concerning scrutiny of national security issues when it comes to investments made in key or sensitive sectors. Indeed, the UK’s approach to investment screening underwent a significant transformation with the introduction of the National Security and Investment Act ...
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The Politization of Trade Defence Instruments

By Victor Crochet and Weihuan Zhou   Trade defence instruments used to be described as dull and technical, of little interest except as a money maker for a handful of trade lawyers in Washington, Brussels and other administrative capitals. There are two main trade defence instruments aimed at protecting Members of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) from unfair trade practices: anti-dumping ...
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The New Significant Investments Review Act of Singapore – Some Insights and Lessons for Europe

By Philipp Reinhold, Saarland University   Singapore is known for a legal framework and public policies which are generally favourable towards foreign investors.[1] The country is one of the most open economies in the world. For 2023 as a whole, net inflows of direct investment rose by S$17.6 billion (around US$13 billion) to S$151 billion (around US$ 112.3 billion).[2] The ...
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CELIS Update on Investment Screening – February 2024

Ireland – Draft Guidance and Notification Form on the Irish Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 On 16 February 2024, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment published the Draft Guidance on the Irish Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023, as well as a Draft Notification Form. The regime is expected to enter into force by 30 June ...
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CELIS Announcement: CFIS 24 Save-the-date & More Exciting News

Dear CELIS Community, We would like to share with you some exciting news and updates around the CELIS Institute. The date and venue for CFIS 24 have been confirmed (I.), and in preparation for the conference we are looking for master and PhD students to join the orga team as Conference Sherpas (II.). We are also proud to announce the ...
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The Quest for Policy Coherence between Competition Law and Foreign Investment Screening in the EU: Consistency or Disruption?

By Pietro Chiarelli, European Central Bank Disclaimer: This blog post was prepared by the author in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in the blog post are the author's own and do not reflect the view of the ECB. Introduction Foreign investment and competition are no strangers to one another. While the former is a multiplying factor for the latter ...
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Digital Trade And Investment Screening: Friends Or Foes?

By Murilo Lubambo, University College London Entry of Foreign Investments and Digital Trade  This blog post discusses how investment screening activities by states may have an impact on digital trade. In other words, to what extent does investment screening constitute a restriction that affects the integration of digital trade between countries on a global basis?  For the purposes of this ...
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Austria – The Investment Control “Powerhouse”

By Dr. Regina Kröll and Dr. Johannes Barbist, Binder Grösswang Disclaimer: This post was first published on the Binder Grösswang Law Blog On 25 July 2020, the Austrian Investment Control Act (Investitionskontrollgesetz – ICA) entered into force and started a new era of foreign direct investment (FDI) screening in Austria. This report aims at providing some key data around the ...
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CELIS Blog Editors

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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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