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 foreign investment still breathe the air of the liberal, if ...
Continue reading 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 enjoys broad authority to regulate the admission of foreign investment ...
Continue reading 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 direct investments (“FDI”) are often taken at the post-establishment phase—after ...
Continue reading 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 prevent foreign investment screening measures from being subject to successful ...
Continue reading 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 exclusively as catalysts for growth and innovation, but instead as ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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) ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
Continue reading 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 ...
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 ...
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CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – October 2025
By Helene Schramm with the help of interns Parth Aggarwal and Maria-Arancha Simiuc INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS Croatia - Croatia Moves to Tighten Foreign Investment Rules Under Draft Screening Act The Croatian Ministry of Finance has published a draft proposal for a new Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) Screening Act (“draft Act”) aimed at establishing a comprehensive national review mechanism ...
Continue reading Belgium’s Second Annual FDI Screening Report: A Balance Between Openness and National Security
By Joost Haans & Sander De Volder, DLA Piper UK LLP (Brussels) Belgium’s second annual report on its foreign direct investment screening mechanism, which was published on 12 September 2025 and covers the period July 2024 to June 2025, offers more than just numbers. It is a snapshot of how one of Europe’s most open economies for foreign investment is ...
Continue reading CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – September 2025
by Helene Schramm with the help of intern Parth Aggarwal INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS Hungary - Update of Hungarian FDI Screening Framework with Adoption of Act L of 2025 On 19 August 2025, Hungary enacted Act L of 2025, repealing the government decrees that had established the ‘Special FDI Screening Regime’ during the national state of emergency and incorporating ...
Continue reading CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – August 2025
by Helene Schramm and Órlaith Higgins INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS Republic of Cyprus - Cyprus moves to align with EU by introducing FDI screening framework Cyprus has finally begun to remedy the absence of its FDI screening regime amid efforts to harmonize European foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening with its submission of the bill entitled “the Establishment of Framework for the Foreign ...
Continue reading 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) Introduction When the European Commission published its proposal for a revision of the FDI Screening Regulation ('the Regulation'), observers quickly identified the delineation of the minimal sectoral scope for mandatory ...
Continue reading The Republic of Cyprus’ 2025 FDIS Bill is out and … it is robust!
By Pantelis Christofides and Dr. Thomas Papadopoulos, CELIS Fellows and Country Reporters for the Republic of Cyprus The Republic of Cyprus' Ministry of Finance has submitted on 10th July 2025 before the Plenary of the House of Representatives[1] the long awaited new FDIS Bill[2], with the title of 'the Establishment of Framework for the Foreign Direct Investment Screening Law of ...
Continue reading Assembly of Albania Introduces the Concept of Investment Screening in Amendment to Foreign Investment Law
By Elvis Zerva On July 3, 2025, the Assembly of Albania adopted an amendment to Law No. 7764, dated November 2, 1993, "On Foreign Investments", introducing, for the first time, a mandatory screening regime for foreign direct investments (FDIs). The amendment (Law 56/2025) is now published in the Official Gazzette no. 124 date 11.07.2025. The amendment authorizes the Government of Albania ...
Continue reading Towards The End Of Russian Oil And Gas In Europe?
By Edouard Gergondet Introduction Since Russia's oil and gas industry is estimated to represent up to 50% of its total federal budget revenues and around 20% of its GDP, it is not surprising that, in an effort to curtail these revenues, the European Union ("EU") introduced numerous measures to target this sector, as part of the successive waves of sanctions ...
Continue reading CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – June 2025
by Helene Schramm with the help of intern Parth Aggarwal INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS European Union - Commencement of trilogue discussions on the revision of the EU FDI screening regulation In January 2025, the European Commission unveiled a proposal to overhaul the EU’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening regulation (Regulation 2019/452), aiming to strengthen the Union’s ability to identify ...
Continue reading Regulating the Final Frontier: Why the EU Space Act Matters
Regulating the Final Frontier: Why the EU Space Act Matters By Thao Pham & Francesco Casaril Introduction After years of political inertia and many wake-up calls, the EU Space Act was finally unveiled on 25 June 2025 ('the Act'). For those of us who have been closely following the space industry, this is a long-awaited moment. Europe has been watching the ...
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