CELIS Institute
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 EU, in its Turnberry Deal with the United States, had promised to “strengthen economic security alignment” between the two entities. The deal itself ended the…
Read More ...Investment Screening and the Nexperia Crisis: Would It Have Made a Difference?
Author: Frans-Paul van der Putten (Founder, ChinaGeopolitics) Introduction Five months have passed since the interventions by the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs and the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal that took away control of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia from its Chinese parent company Wingtech Technologies. Looking back at what happened, now that the…
Read More ...Ukraine’s Interagency FDI Commission: Early Powers in a Yet-to-Be-Defined FDI Screening Regime
Igor Svechkar (Partner, Asters), Sergiy Glushchenko (Counsel, Asters), and Anastasiia Panchak (Senior Associate, Asters; CELIS Country Reporter for Ukraine) Introduction On 28 January 2026, the Ukrainian Government (‘the Government’) adopted Resolution No. 97 (‘the Resolution’), establishing an Interagency Foreign Direct Investment Screening Commission (‘the Commission’). This step marks a further move toward the development of…
Read More ...FDI Screening in Ukraine: Balancing Security, Predictability, and Investment
Reflections from a CELIS and CIPE event in Washington, DC Anton Arkhypov (Counsel, AVELLUM) Introduction Ukraine’s reconstruction will depend heavily on foreign investment. At the same time, the country faces an unprecedented challenge: how to attract capital, technology, and partnerships without compromising national security in an environment shaped by war, geopolitical fragmentation, and global supply-chain realignment.…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – January 2026
By Helene Schramm with the help of intern Maria-Arancha Simiuc INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS United States – Washington Targets Sensitive Tech Investment Abroad Under New COINS Act On 18 December 2025, the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act 2025 was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The Act requires enforcement by the Department…
Read More ...Economic Security and the Financial Sector: Italian FDI Legislation Reformed to Cope with the EU Commission Infringement Procedure
By Andrea Gemmi and Linda Lorenzon Introduction The opening of infringement procedure INFR(2025)2152 concerning Italy’s FDI screening legislation (so-called “golden power” legislation) —following its application to the UniCredit/Banco BPM transaction—has brought to the surface unresolved tensions between national FDI controls and EU competences in banking supervision, prudential regulation, and free movement of capital. The European Commission’s…
Read More ...The Guidelines on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation: condensing the Commission’s first experience
Pierfrancesco Mattiolo (PhD Candidate, University of Antwerp) and Jan Blockx (Assistant Professor, University of Antwerp) On 9 January 2026, the Commission adopted its Guidelines on the application of certain provisions of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). This publication follows the publication of the Draft Guidelines in July 2025 and increasing enforcement action at the end…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – December 2025
By Helene Schramm with the help of intern Maria-Arancha Simiuc INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS Switzerland – Swiss Parliament adopts Investment Screening Act On 2 December 2025, the Swiss parliament approved an Investment Screening Act. The regime has a highly limited scope and applies only to investments made by foreign states. The law is subject to a…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – November 2025
By Helene Schramm with the help of intern Maria-Arancha Simiuc INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS Cyprus – Cyprus Adopts First Comprehensive FDI Screening Law The Republic of Cyprus has enacted its first comprehensive Foreign Direct Investment Screening Law on 14 November 2025, entering into force on 2 April 2026. The new framework introduces mandatory prior…
Read More ...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 Annual Report on FDI Screening on October 14th (‘the Report’). This report is eagerly awaited every year by many stakeholders as a major source of…
Read More ...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…
Read More ...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…
Read More ...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…
Read More ...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…
Read More ...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…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – May 2025
by Helene Schramm INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS European Union – European Parliament approves proposal for a wide framework for screening of foreign direct investments On 8 May 2025, the European Parliament adopted the proposal of a major reform of the Foreign Investment Screening Regulation, aimed at protecting strategic EU sectors from foreign threats. The…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – April 2025
by Helene Schramm INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS European Union – European Commission publishes first in-depth decision on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in e&/PPF On 4 April 2025, the European Commission issued its first conditional Phase II decision under Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 – the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (“FSR”) – in the acquisition of PPF Telecom by Emirates…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – March 2025
by Helene Schramm with the help of intern Surbhi Gupta INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS European Union – EU consults on Foreign Subsidies Regulation Guidelines On 5 March 2025, the European Commission published a Call for Evidence seeking feedback on the upcoming Guidelines regarding the implementation of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (“FSR”). The FSR, effective…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – February 2025
by Helene Schramm with the help of intern Surbhi Gupta INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS European Union – European Economic Area’s Standing Committee of the EFTA States comments on the Proposal for a regulation on the screening of foreign investments in the Union On 25 February 2025, the European Economic Area (EEA) European Free Trade Association…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – January 2025
by Helene Schramm with the help of intern Surbhi Gupta ECONOMIC SECURITY STRATEGIES European Union – Commission Recommendation calling on EU Member States to review outbound investments into non EU-countries As Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regimes have expanded globally in recent years, concerns have also risen about the economic security risks posed by…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – December 2024
European Union – European Commission refers the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failure to terminate intra-EU BITs On 16 December 2024, the European Commission decided to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for failing to terminate its Bilateral Investment Treaties…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – November 2024
Global – Publication of 31st UNCTAD-OECD Report on G20 Investment Measures On 13 November 2024, the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the 31st Report on G20 Investment Measures (“Report”). The Report documents measures taken by the G20 governments between 16 October 2023 and 15…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – October 2024
European Union – European Commission releases Fourth Annual Report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union On 17 October 2024, the European Commission (“EC”) released the Fourth Annual Report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union (“Report”) for the year 2023. The Report is divided into 4 chapters and…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – September 2024
European Union – European Commission has granted conditional approval in first in-depth review for an M&A transaction On 24 September 2024, the European Commission has approved the acquisition by Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC (ETGC) of sole control of PPF Telecom Group B.V. (PPF), excluding its Czech business, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The approval is conditional on…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – August 2024
EU – European Commission publishes Commission Staff Working Document giving clarifications on the application of Art. 4 (1), Article 6 and Article 27(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market On 26 July 2024, the European Commission (“EC”) published the Commission Staff Working Document on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market…
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