Lessons learned from the “Kleo Connect” Case

CELIS Events

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…

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Huawei Technologies Co. LTD. v. The Kingdom of Sweden – ISDS as a potential remedy against the Huawei ban from the 5G rollout?

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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…

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Screening Regime for Foreign Investment to be Introduced in Ireland

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2022

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…

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Marking a New Investment Era in Sweden: Enter the Swedish FDI Regime

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2022

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,…

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Taking due process seriously – The Administrative Court of Berlin doubles down on FDI procedural rules

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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…

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Anti-subsidy investigation in Chinese Electric Vehicles: fairness, global competition and geopolitics 

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2022

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…

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China’s growing assertiveness in the use of economic sanctions: where are we heading?

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2023

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…

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Building Resilience in Investment Screening and Economic Security: Lessons from India

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2023

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…

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Between Openness and Security: CFIS 23 – Roundtable ‘Looking for a design of Europe’s Screening Mechanism(s)’

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2023

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…

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Trade and Investment between the EU and India: A promising horizon with a closer look at negotiation roadblocks.

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2023

By Thijs De Cuyper, University of Leuven and Gautam Mohanty, Kozminski University and Jindal Global Law School   Introduction – The sixth round of the European Union (EU)-India investment protection agreement (IPA) was set to resume on 10-13 October 2023 in Brussels. However, plans have changed due to India prioritizing its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with…

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‘A Chain Works Just as Well as its Weakest Link’ – CFIS Keynote and Roundtable on the Review of the EU FDI Screening Regulation

CELIS Events

By 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 public part.…

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The Anti-Coercion Instrument has been adopted

Thomas Verellen

By Ass.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Verellen, University of Utrecht [1]   On October 23rd, 2023, the Council adopted the Anti-Coercion Instrument. The adoption by the Council comes a couple of weeks after the European Parliament gave its consent to the instrument on October 3rd. The Council’s press release states that the regulation will be signed on November…

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Economic Security in the EU: Key Takeaways from CFIS 2023

Roland Stein @ CELIS.institute

By Dr. Roland Stein, LL.M. Eur., BLOMSTEIN / CELIS Deputy Director   The CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS) 2023 conference in Prague provided valuable insights into the multifaceted realm of economic security in the European Union (EU). The discussions centered on critical issues such as the screening of foreign inward direct investments, outward investment controls,…

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It’s that time of year again: The European Commission’s Third Annual Report on FDI Screening is out!

Sophie Bohnert

By Sophie Bohnert, Vienna University of Economics and Business/College of Europe   Introduction On 19 October 2023, the European Commission (“EC”) published its Annual Report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union (“Report”), covering the year 2022. This Report is accompanied by the usual Staff Working Document. This is the third report…

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Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. v Canada – Investment arbitration as a potential remedy against negative FDI screening decisions?

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By Kilian Wagner, University of Vienna FDI screening and international investment law Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and specific chapters in free trade agreements include substantive standards of investment protection. These comprise rules on expropriations, national and most-favoured-nation treatment, and the fair and equitable treatment (FET) of investments. Most BITs contain provisions on investor-state dispute settlement…

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Evaluation Report on Amendments to the German Investment Screening Mechanism

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By Jonas Fechter, University of Münster / CELIS Deputy Assistant Director   I. Legislative changes and reporting duties Over the past couple of years, investment screening has become a central legislative instrument for promoting security and public order in many Western countries. When Germany first introduced its two-tier screening system in 2004 (military sector) and…

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The ECJ’s Judgment in Xella – Judicial Cherry Picking?

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – May 2023

By Alexia Crivoi, Vienna University of Economics and Business   Introduction In the much-discussed Xella judgment of July 13 2023, the Court of Justice decided two things: that the scope of the EU FDI Screening Regulation does not extend to ‘indirect FDI’, rejecting arguments relating to the company structure of an EU-based but foreign-owned investor…

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National Interest and Freedom of Establishment: The CJEU’s Judgment in Xella

CELIS Update on Investment Screening – June 2023

By Bálint Kovács In its judgment[1] published on 13 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Hungary’s decision to prohibit an investment by a foreign-owned Hungarian company aiming to acquire a Hungarian company violated the freedom of establishment. The prohibition involved the use of the novel foreign direct investment…

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