FDI Screening in Europe: Time for Review?

FDI Screening in Europe: Time for Review?

June 23, 2022, CPI Antitrust Chronicle

After around two years (or more) of intense activity in the emergence and upgrading of national foreign direct investment (“FDI”) regimes in Europe, certain of the competent FDI authorities and ministries are becoming more established in their approach. In particular, the implementation of FDI review powers and enforcement practices are beginning to be revealed in the first reported annual statistics, including a report published in November 2021 by the European Commission upon one year of full application of the EU FDI Regulation ((EU) 2019/452). The first judicial challenges to FDI laws are also being heard through the courts or other procedural and regulatory interactions. Alongside this, the refinement of FDI laws and the addition of new FDI regimes continues among the European Union (“EU”) Member States, within in the European Economic Area and across the wider European continent. In an effort to take stock, this article reports on the key trends and considers where the boundaries of national security or interest might lie in the context of the EU treaties and law.