EU Foreign Investment Screening Regulation Enters into Force
The new EU framework for the screening of foreign direct investments is now in force. The framework will be instrumental in safeguarding Europe’s security and public order in relation to foreign direct investments coming into the EU.
President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker said: “We need scrutiny over purchases by foreign companies that target Europe’s strategic assets. I want Europe to remain open for business, but I have said time and again that we are not naïve free traders. The adoption and entry into force of this proposal in an almost record time shows that when it comes to defending Europe’s interests we will always walk the talk.”
The Commission and EU Member States will now take the necessary steps to make the framework operational by October 2020. These steps concern, in particular, the setting up of the new EU-wide mechanism for co-operation, enabling Member States and the Commission to exchange information and raise concerns related to specific foreign investments. For example, this will allow the Commission to issue opinions when an investment poses a threat to the security or public order of more than one Member State, or when an investment could undermine a project or programme of interest to the whole EU, such as Horizon 2020 or Galileo.
The proposal to create the first EU-wide framework for the screening of foreign direct investments was presented by President Juncker during the 2017 State of the Union address and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in March 2019.
