CELIS-Blog
CELIS Webinar on the new EU Economic Security Package
On February 8, 2024, CELIS will host a lunchtime webinar on the new EU Economic Security Package. Following our last lunchtime webinar on the Xella judgment, this time we will discuss the new EU Economic Security Package with renowned expert. Moderated again by Jonas Fechter and Janosch Wiesenthal, the package will be discussed by Christian…
Read More ...Is the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation compatible with WTO Law?
By Pierfrancesco Mattiolo, University of Antwerp The blog post summarizes parts of the article ‘The EU’s New Regime on Foreign Subsidies: Has the Time Come for a Paradigm-Shift?’ published by Professor Csongor Nagy in the Journal of World Trade. The paper is available here. State Capitalist Economies and the WTO It is no mystery that,…
Read More ...The EU Commission’s Economic Security Package: Scale Up and Revamp
By Sophie Bohnert, Vienna University of Economics and Business/College of Europe and Kilian Wagner, University of Vienna Introduction: Long Awaited, Much Longed-For! Over the past six months, the EC has been gradually releasing bits and pieces of information about possible initiatives to scale up and revamp the EU’s foreign trade and investment policy toolbox, creating…
Read More ...Foreign direct investment screening in the EU: time to address weaknesses
By Mihails Kozlovs, Member of the European Court of Auditors, Dean of Chamber IV – Regulation of markets and competitive economy Introduction The European Court of Auditors (ECA) in its role as the European Union’s (EU) external auditor audits not only the implementation of the EU budget, but also assesses the economy, effectiveness, and efficiency of…
Read More ...Outbound Investment Screening
By Dr. Leonard von Rummel, BLOMSTEIN With the “Executive Order on Addressing United States Investments In Certain National Security Technologies and Products In Countries Of Concern“, the USA has drafted a regulation for outbound investment control. This article deals with the question of whether a comparable project could also be transferred to Europe or…
Read More ...Call for Feedback
Dear CELIS Community, As we strive to propel the CELIS Institute’s mission forward and foster growth, we invite you to play a key role in our journey. Your insights are invaluable, and we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to provide brief feedback on what you value most about the CELIS…
Read More ...The European Union’s Anti-Coercion Instrument – A Closer Look at Decision-Making under a Politicized Trade Instrument
Author details on file with the editors. Introduction The European Union’s (EU, Union) Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) is finally here. After an overwhelming majority vote by the European Parliament (EP) and the formal adoption by the Council, the ACI has now also made it into the Official Journal of the European Union. Regulation (EU) 2023/2675 (the…
Read More ...The Anti-Coercion Instrument – The Practical Repercussions of the ACI’s Entry into Force (Part II)
By Anh Nguyen, University of Amsterdam This is the second post in a two-part blog post providing an international law deep dive on practical repercussions of the ACI’s entry into force. This post will discuss international trade law perspectives on the ACI’s unilateral invocation of countermeasures. The previous post focused on general international law perspectives…
Read More ...The Anti-Coercion Instrument – The Practical Repercussions of the ACI’s Entry into Force (Part I)
By Anh Nguyen, University of Amsterdam Ever since its inception, the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) has been trumpeted as a new shield against ‘economic bullying’ of the EU and its member states. Rather than being a legal instrument to be directly deployed against the EU’s trade partners, it was conceived as a deterrent instrument to…
Read More ...Looking Into the Crystal Ball: What Does 2024 Have in Store for Investment Screening?
By Sophie Bohnert, Vienna University of Economics and Business/College of Europe A 2024 Kick-Off Message from the Editors The CELIS Blog is back after its winter break! The Editorial Team wishes all readers, supporters, and partners a Happy New Year! The Editors would like to thank the CELIS Institute and its Board of Directors for…
Read More ...The CELIS Institute together with BLOMSTEIN have successfully assisted AmCham Moldova in improving the national Moldovan FDI law and align it with best practises in the EU
Over the past three months, the CELIS Institute has brought together a team of leading FDI experts to assist the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Moldova in improving Moldova’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening mechanism. The team supporting this process consisted of Dr Roland M. Stein and Dr Laura Louca from BLOMSTEIN and Professor…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – December 2023
Romania – New Amendments to the Romanian FDI regime On 6 December 2023 the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 108/2023 (“GEO 108/2023) was published in the Official Gazette. GEO 108/2023 provides for new amendments to Romania’s Competition Law no. 21/1996, aimed at fully transposing the EU Directive 1/2019 into local law. Main legislative changes include the…
Read More ...A message from the Editorial Team – Holiday Break
The Editorial Team of the CELIS Blog will be offline for the holidays. The CELIS Blog will be back with more exciting news on investment screening and beyond on 8 January 2024.
Read More ...Launch of the CELIS German Chapter and BDI-Event in Berlin
By Leonard von Rummel, BLOMSTEIN If you are interested in the latest developments and challenges in the field of investment screening and its impact on the German economy, you should not miss the Investment Screening Conference hosted by BDI and CELIS German Chapter on February 20, 2024 at the Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft in Berlin.…
Read More ...Lessons learned from the “Kleo Connect” Case
By Janosch Wiesenthal, University of Lüneburg Due to its geo-economic orientation, both politicians and legal scholars usually perceive investment screening as a field being at the mercy of political interests. The “Kleo Connect” case confirms that this traditional perception still holds true. In addition, it also reveals that investment screening mechanisms might be…
Read More ...Huawei Technologies Co. LTD. v. The Kingdom of Sweden – ISDS as a potential remedy against the Huawei ban from the 5G rollout?
By Kilian Wagner, University of Vienna Spearheaded by the United States, several states including Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom have imposed restrictions on the Chinese tech-giant Huawei. These measures essentially ban Huawei’s products for the roll-out of the infrastructure for the fifth generation of wireless technology (5G) on national security grounds. The…
Read More ...Screening Regime for Foreign Investment to be Introduced in Ireland
By Conor Hand, Deputy Director Investment Screening Unit at the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (Ireland) Introduction In an increasingly interconnected world, the national and global security environment is becoming more contested and complex. Reflecting this changing environment, and the increasing diversification of threats, the Irish Government has passed a key piece of…
Read More ...Marking a New Investment Era in Sweden: Enter the Swedish FDI Regime
By Pouya Ghotbi, Wistrand Advokatbyrå Background In 1916, the Swedish government introduced a piece of legislation restricting the right of foreigners to invest in Sweden. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the legislation was further tightened, making it difficult for foreigners to acquire businesses in Sweden without government scrutiny. The Act was abolished 1991,…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – November 2023
Ireland – Introduction of a new FDI screening regime on 31 October 2023 On 31 October 2023, the Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 was signed into law. Since the initial draft was published on 2 August 2022, the Act has undergone a series of amendments during the course of 2023,. Therewith, for the…
Read More ...Taking due process seriously – The Administrative Court of Berlin doubles down on FDI procedural rules
By Jonas Fechter, University of Münster / CELIS Deputy Assistant Director I. Introduction Investment screening is infamous for the low number of judicial proceedings that have challenged the legality of the prohibition and mitigation measures imposed by governments. As a result, there is, as yet, no strong body of case law clarifying how investment screening…
Read More ...Anti-subsidy investigation in Chinese Electric Vehicles: fairness, global competition and geopolitics
By Mark Konstantinidis, King’s College London Introduction and background In September 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her State of the Union address to the European Parliament. President von der Leyen warned that ‘global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by…
Read More ...China’s growing assertiveness in the use of economic sanctions: where are we heading?
By Dr. Iryna Bogdanova, World Trade Institute China’s growing assertiveness in the use of economic sanctions: where are we heading? The US-China trade war, tightening of US export controls, and economic sanctions against Chinese technology companies instigated major revisions of Chinese laws and regulations that emulate Western tools used to implement economic sanctions. These…
Read More ...Building Resilience in Investment Screening and Economic Security: Lessons from India
By Prof. Dr Bimal N. Patel, Member, National Security Advisory Board, India; Vice-Chancellor, Rashtriya Raksha University; Member, UN International Law Commission (The views are personal) Strategies and balancing of priorities in economic security No nation can proliferate without foreign direct investment. Even so, in certain sectors, such as military or network technologies, FDI may raise national…
Read More ...Between Openness and Security: CFIS 23 – Roundtable ‘Looking for a design of Europe’s Screening Mechanism(s)’
By Leonard von Rummel, BLOMSTEIN and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Lena Hornkohl, University of Vienna / CELIS Deputy Director The annual conference of the CELIS Institute dealt with the pivotal question of Investment Screening and Economic Security and its current challenges. CFIS 2023 was held in Prague from 11 – 13 October 2023 and consisted of a private and a…
Read More ...The UK’s National Security and Investment Regime: Key insights from the Annual Report 2022-23
By Nissim Massarano, Clifford Chance[1] On 11 July 2023, the UK’s Investment Security Unit (“ISU”) released its annual report on the operation of the UK National Security and Investment (“NSIA”) regime for the period covering 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 (here). The Annual Report provides aggregated data on the operation of the…
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