Balancing Security and Economics: The EU Investment Screening Mechanism

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

By Floor Doppen (University of Antwerp), Antonio Calcara (Vrije Universiteit Brussels) and Dirk De Bièvre (University of Antwerp) In the EU, Member States and the Commission are increasingly turning to trade and investment tools to address national security issues. In the face of concerns over technology leakage, supply chain resilience, dependencies in critical industries, data…

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The European Commission’s Fourth Annual Report on FDI Screening

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

By Sophie Bohnert, CELIS Blog A. Introduction This October is the month of investment screening. Not only did CFIS 2024, hosted by the CELIS Institute and convened by Steffen Hindelang and Roland Stein, take place in Paris (France) from 16 to 18 October 2024. It is also the month in which the European Commission (“EC”)…

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CFIS 24: Paris Insights – Securing Europe’s Future: Investment Screening and Economic Security in the Context of EU Enlargement

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

A Note from the Editors The CELIS Blog is launching its very first special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS).  Our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and practitioners in the field, share their views on the topics we will be discussing in the various panels during CFIS.…

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CFIS 24: Paris Insights – Preserving the Battlefield Gap in the Area of Technology: Between Export Control and Outbound Investment Screening 

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

A Note from the Editors The CELIS Blog is launching its very first special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS).  Our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and practitioners in the field, share their views on the topics we will be discussing in the various panels during CFIS.…

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CFIS 2024: Issue Notes (Part 2/2)

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

A Note from the Editors The CELIS Blog is launching its second special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS). The Issue Note series provides analyses which are published to elicit comment and to further debate. The series is written by our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and…

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CFIS 2024: Issue Notes (Part 1/2)

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

A Note from the Editors The CELIS Blog is launching its second special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS). The Issue Note series provides analyses which are published to elicit comment and to further debate. The series is written by our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and…

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Towards a centralisation of FDI screening in the EU? On the functioning and effects of the cooperation mechanism in the Commission’s proposal for a revised screening regulation

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

By Steffen Hindelang and Jan Philipp Huth[i] A.   Introduction To those arguing, before the backdrop of increasing geopolitical tension, in favour of a security-oriented European industrial policy, it may seem like a relic of bygone times. However, Art. 63 para. 1 TFEU – still – provides for free movement of capital between the EU and…

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CFIS 24: Paris Insights – The Current Global Regulatory & Investment Environment: The OECD Countries’ Perspective on Economic Security

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

The CELIS Blog is launching its very first special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS).  Our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and practitioners in the field, share their views on the topics we will be discussing in the various panels during CFIS. CFIS is the flagship event…

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The ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act’ (PAFACAA): ‘TikTok Ban’ or New Milestone in US Economic Security Law?

By Paolo Mazzotti, PhD candidate and Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Heidelberg) The recently adopted ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act’ (PAFACAA) marks a new step in the evolution of US economic security law. While often referred to as a ‘TikTok ban’, PAFACAA puts in place…

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CFIS 24: Paris Insights – FDI and EU Strategic Autonomy

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - November 2023

The CELIS Blog is launching its very first special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS).  Our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and practitioners in the field, share their views on the topics we will be discussing in the various panels during CFIS. CFIS is the flagship event…

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CFIS 24: Paris Insights – Sovereign Wealth Funds and Investment Screening

Simon Shargi-Erdmosa

The CELIS Blog is launching its very first special series of blog posts ahead of this year’s CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS).  Our Programme Sherpas, promising young academics and practitioners in the field, share their views on the topics we will be discussing in the various panels during CFIS. CFIS is the flagship event…

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The First Court (Interim Reliefs) Decision on the Dutch FDI Screening Regime: Setting the Boundaries

Najibullah Zamani

By Najibullah Zamani, Radboud University Introduction In recent years, mostly due to geopolitical developments, the perception of FDI by states has changed fundamentally. FDI is used increasingly as a tool to pursue geopolitical and security interests rather than as an objective in itself. As a consequence of this geo-politicization and securitization of FDI, more and…

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The U.S. Prohibition of the MineOne-Acquisition: What would be the treatment under EU and German Foreign Direct Investment Legislation?

Benedikt Sichla

By Benedikt Sichla, Research assistant at Clifford Chance  1. Introduction On May 13, 2024, President Biden issued an order prohibiting for national security reasons the acquisition of real estate and the operation of a cryptocurrency mining facility in close proximity to a U.S. Air Force base. The foreign ownership of the acquirer by nationals of…

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Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - December 2023

By Lukas Baumgärtner, Mag. Iur, LL.M., Attorney at Law at Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft (Bangkok and Yangon)   I. INTRODUCTION Thailand has demonstrated a significant trajectory of economic development over recent decades, with foreign direct investment (ʺFDIʺ) being an important contributor to this success. FDI inflows stood at USD 10 billion in 2022, down by 31.5% compared…

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The First Court Decision on the Austrian FDI Screening Regime

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - December 2023

By  Dr. Johannes Barbist,  Binder Grösswang   I. Introduction A regular CELIS blog reader will know already: Austria is at the forefront of EU jurisdictions when it comes to FDI filings submitted to the EU cooperation mechanism (counted by population, see here for a compilation of the data). However, until very recently there were no…

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Conference on Investment Screening in Austria

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - December 2023

On Thursday, 13. June 2024, the second edition of the annual conference on investment screening in Austria and the EU will take place at the University of Vienna. The aim is to convene experts from academia and legal practice to discuss topical issues of investment screening and further legal initiatives designed to strengthen the EU’s open…

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CFIUS should steel itself from domestic presidential politics. On Biden’s public intervention on the Nippon Steel-US Steel Acquisition

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - December 2023

By Thomas P. Feddo, founder of The Rubicon Advisors LLC and former Assistant Treasury Secretary for Investment Security (2019-2021)   This blogpost elaborates on the opinion piece ‘Biden, CFIUS and the US Steel Acquisition’ authored by Feddo and published on the Wall Street Journal (15 April 2024)   In December 2023, Nippon Steel and US…

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Corporate Sustainability in the EU and the Obstacle Race to Eliminate Products of Forced Labour: a Pyrrhic Victory?

CELIS Update on Investment Screening - December 2023

By Nicola Mongelli, LL.M (University of Antwerp) Introduction On the 23rd of April 2024, the European Parliament (EP), concluded the first reading of the text of the upcoming Regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market. This contribution will comment on the Regulation on Products of Forced Labour (PFL Regulation), addressing some…

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