Looking back at 2025 and raising our glass to 2026!
We hope that 2026 has gotten off to a good start for you. We wish it to be a year filled with happiness, success, and, most importantly, peace!
While we are looking towards the future, we first take a moment to look back at the past year.
2025 was a tumultuous one, characterised by trade tensions, increased geopolitical competition, and many developments in the field of investment screening, economic and national security. At the CELIS Institute we look back on the past year with gratitude and pride. As an independent, non-profit, non‑lobbying organisation, we connected regulators, investors, law firms, and academia in a high-trust environment to develop best practices and standards that shape the balance between investment security, open markets, and competitiveness.
At the same time, we are eager to further advance our mission —continue building a dedicated non-profit, non-partisan, independent platform in Europe for the strategic debate on investment and economic security– together with you!
Looking back at 2025
We had many highlights in 2025, a year that saw many accomplishments, brand new initiatives, and culminated in the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening and Economic Security (CFIS 25), which celebrated its 7th anniversary. Held under the patronage of the German Industry Association (BDI), this year we organised CFIS ‘at home’, in Berlin, convening a select 120 regulators, investors, practitioners, and scholars from Europe, the Americas, and South as well as East Asia for outcome‑oriented exchange under the Chatham House Rule.
In 2025 we also travelled quite a bit: For our CELIS Thought Leaders Program we gathered in Brussels, Paris, and Bucharest where we facilitated in-depth, multi-jurisdictional and technical discussions on investment screening to develop comparative best practices and strengthen the European screening community. In May 2025 we also successfully hosted an incredible DC Leaders in Washington DC, bringing together US and European screening authorities.
This year saw CELIS continue to engage in and contribute to academic and societal debates on economic security, while we opened up new opportunities for growth. We provided research and training support to a variety of governments and societal actors and firmly anchored the CELIS institute’s activities in solid, fact-based, research. To that end we:
- partnered with the Law & Geoeconomics journal on a new blog series, and co-hosted a fantastic academic workshop during CFIS 25, cementing our commitment to academic research and science communication.
- advised an Armenian government group examining potential foreign investment screening mechanisms. In November 2025, we delivered training sessions and workshops to strengthen informed policy discussions and build capacity –marking Armenia’s first structured exploration of screening rules.
- launched a structured research project with key Ukrainian stakeholders to map current screening practices and identify gaps for EU alignment. In December 2025, we convened roundtables in Berlin and Kyiv to validate findings, set reform priorities, and facilitate comprehensive stakeholder consultations–laying the groundwork for future capacity-building and legislative steps.
- launched a research process with key stakeholders in Mexico to assess the existing screening framework and examine options for strengthening investment security. This work benchmarks international best practices, identifies gaps, and develops actionable recommendations. We look forward to a multistakeholder roundtable in February 2026 to review findings and define next steps.
We also advanced our status as a knowledge hub through special blog series, a growing number of in-depth analyses in our CELIS Non‑Papers series, and the further-expanding CELIS Country Reports network. In particular the CELIS Blog has continued to play a crucial role in extending and informing the dialogue among stakeholders with in-depth, original and timely pieces from experts in the field.
A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Partners and Collaborators
As CELIS operates without general core funding or donor agendas in order to maintain full editorial independence, we are grateful for the support of our mission in 2025 by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Law & Geoeconomics, the Romanian Competition Council, Kirkland & Ellis, Blomstein, FGS Global, Skadden, Simpson Thacher, EisnerAmper, Cravath, Goodwin, Wilson Sonsini, Liedekerke, August Debouzy, Schoenherr, Kinstellar, Wolf Theiss, and many others.
Team updates
Simon Sharghi-Erdmosa, our former intern and CFIS Sherpa, was hired as a programme associate at the start of 2025. John Kay joined CELIS as Head of Programmes and Strategic Partnerships in spring, and Floor Doppen, after invaluable contributions as a volunteer, joined in December as Managing Programme Associate and Editor-in-Chief of the CELIS Blog. We also thank Lena Hornkohl for her service, who stepped down as Director and continues to support CELIS as an Advisor. In addition, we will shortly be announcing the appointment of new members to the CELIS leadership team.
What’s to Come in 2026?
With the EU’s economic security agenda moving from strategy to implementation –and following the December 2025 political agreement to revise the EU foreign direct investment screening framework– 2026 will be pivotal for how rules are operationalised across jurisdictions. Key milestones include:
- CELIS Investment Security Salon: On 13 January 2026, we will invite CELIS sponsors to a small room eventon “Transatlantic Investment in European Defence: Opportunities and Legal Frictions” in Washington, D.C.
- CELIS Thought Leaders will stop in London and feature UK, Irish, and EU investment screening rules.
- CELIS Leaders DC: On 6 May 2026 in Washington, D.C.
- For AmCham Europe, CELIS will deliver a project detailing the practical implications of the Revision of the EU Screening Regulation for Member State regimes.
- New advisory and capacity building projects with Eastern European capitals, Ukraine and enlargement countries will come online soon.
- CFIS 2026, the leading global investment security conference and our invitation‑only flagship forum, will be held on 7-9 October 2026 in Brussels.
With all these new developments to look forward to in 2026, we cannot wait to get back to work! If you would like to explore partnership or sponsorship opportunities, or would like to serve as a CELIS country reporter, intern with us, or join the CELIS Blog team as an editor or contributor, don’t hesitate to reach out!
We wish you a joyful, successful and prosperous 2026,
Steffen, Roland, and the entire CELIS Institute team
