Posts Tagged ‘CELIS-CONTENT-Blogpost’
From Legal Perfection to Operational Maturity: Romania’s Investment Screening Journey
Authors: Anne Bonet (senior advisor, CELIS institute) & Floor Doppen (senior programme associate, CELIS Institute) Introduction: A Conversation with Ana-Maria Belacurencu Across Europe, investment screening mechanisms have moved from legislative blueprints to operational realities. While each Member State followed its own constitutional and political path, many faced similar challenges: designing new institutions, building analytical capacity,…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening and Economic Security – March 2026
By Helene Schramm with the assistance of interns Reet Sodhi and Aditi Singh INVESTMENT SCREENING MECHANISMS European Union – Revised EU FDI Screening Regulation Moves Toward Final Approval On 10 February 2026, the draft of the new EU FDI Screening Regulation (“Proposal”), emerging from trialogue negotiations, was published following approval by the Permanent Representatives Committee. The Presidency…
Read More ...The Horizon of Investment Screening in Ukraine
Authors: Anton Arkhypov, John Kay, Mariia Bykova, Mykyta Nota and Simon Sharghi-Erdmosa. Introduction In a newly published report produced by CELIS in collaboration with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), we examine Ukraine’s emerging foreign direct investment (FDI) screening framework at a critical moment for the country’s post-war reconstruction. We analyse Ukraine’s two draft…
Read More ...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 based on the author’s article ‘Investment Screening in the EU: From Liberalisation to the State of Exception’, published open access by The Journal of World…
Read More ...Who Manufactured the EU’s Trade Bazooka? ACI, ECFR, and the Geoeconomic Policy-Making
Author: Jaša Veselinovič (Research Associate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Introduction In response to Donald Trump’s intensifying desire to ‘acquire’ Greenland, the EU adopted an open-carry attitude to its “trade bazooka”. The Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) has been brandished more openly by European political elites with encouragement from across the Atlantic by the likes of Paul Krugman and…
Read More ...France’s FDI Regime: Recent Decisions Signal More Oversight
Author: Wesley Lainé (Associate, Skadden) Introduction France is a top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe, attracting significant inflows through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). However, like most open economies, France has sought to balance its commitment to open markets with the need to protect its national interests. Achieving this balance—which has evolved…
Read More ...Authorities at the helm – Developing investment screening capabilities in Belgium – An interview with Anne Bonet
Part 1 in the CELIS blogseries ‘Authorities at the helm’ Author: Floor Doppen Introduction In the European Union (‘EU’), investment screening regulation has proliferated in the past five years. Many member states developed new administrative capabilities, struggled to develop the governance capabilities to screen investments efficiently, were tasked with explaining to colleagues, firms, lawyers and…
Read More ...CFIUS’s Known Investor Program: A New Chapter in Foreign Investment Screening
Author: Anonymous Introduction / Context The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) previously announced a “Known Investor Program” to streamline the U.S. foreign investment review process. Under the program, certain repeat, low-risk foreign investors may provide detailed information to CFIUS in advance of any specific deal. By collecting and assessing detailed information…
Read More ...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 ticking for the early-2028 implementation deadline of the Foreign Investment Screening Regulation (the ‘Regulation’) with Germany already announcing that it will consolidate its screening rules…
Read More ...Balancing Economic Security and Investment Protection – The Case of Nexperia and the China–Netherlands BIT
Authors: Steffen Hindelang (CELIS Institute), Liam McGrath (CELIS Institute), Helene Schramm (CELIS Institute) I. Introduction While the European Union and its Member States are still assessing whether to introduce a mechanism to review outbound investment for economic security reasons, the Netherlands appears to be ahead of the policy curve. On 30 September 2025, following reports…
Read More ...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 ...Ukraine Moves Toward FDI Screening: Competing Bills Emerge in Parliament
By Anastasiia Panchak, Senior Associate at Asters (Kyiv, Ukraine), CELIS Reporter for Ukraine Ukraine plans to take an important step toward establishing a mandatory foreign direct investment (the FDI) screening mechanism. Over the past month, two bills were registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Parliament): the main bill No. 14062, ”On the Screening of Foreign Direct Investments” (the Bill No. 14062) and the alternative bill No. 14062-1 (the Bill…
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…
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