About CELIS Institute
Our mission is to align legal technical expertise and policy decision making so that investment security rules work in practice across borders – safeguarding national security while preserving open markets and competitiveness.
We pursue this mission by convening the field’s most trusted, invitation only dialogues – notably the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS) – under the Chatham House Rule, where regulators, investors, law firms, and academia meet in a high trust setting that rarely exists elsewhere to develop comparative best practice and standards.
We deliver independent technical and strategic advisory to governments and institutions and publish open, practitioner grade research with tangible impact.
Let’s talkEurope rooted and globally connected, CELIS maintains strict neutrality and integrity: charitable, non lobbying, operating without general core funding, with full editorial independence and no institutional policy positions. We have no profit motive - by statute, any surplus is reinvested in our mission.
Our activities
Events
CELIS Events are high-level, trust-engineered convenings that shape best practices in investment security. We believe multi-stakeholder, closed-door dialogue is vital to effective economic security policy. Our flagship event – the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS) – is an invite-only, strict Chatham House, small room forum (capped at 60 speakers and 60 attendees). It brings together EU officials, national experts, diplomats, private practitioners, in-house counsel, academics, business leaders, think tankers, and civil society for candid, outcome-oriented exchange. Other events include regional CELIS Thought Leaders focused on a cluster of national regimes for practitioners who need to master how screening actually works, and discreet and focused dialogues rooted in legal and policy excellence, such as CELIS Leaders and CELIS Salon.
Technical Advisory
CELIS Advisory delivers strategic support, training, and research engagements to governments and institutions. We help countries design or refine screening regimes, collaborate with donor institutions and multilateral partners, and provide tailored guidance on legal frameworks, implementation strategies, mitigation design, enforcement, and stakeholder engagement. As a non-partisan, non-lobbying trust infrastructure, we provide objective, evidence-based best-practice guidance that prioritizes sound governance and balanced investment security practices across jurisdictions.
Resources
Academic rigour and comparative thinking underpin CELIS Resources, reflecting CELIS’s commitment to open inquiry and the advancement of evidence-based policy dialogue across jurisdictions. We advance informed understanding of foreign investment regulation through expert-driven, open-access publications. Our flagship Country Report project provides peer-reviewed analysis of national screening regimes via concise Country Notes, focused Issue Notes, and in-depth Country Reports. These are complemented by CELIS Non-Papers offering policy-ready insights on investment screening and economic security strategies. Together with the CELIS Blog, these resources support regulators, legal practitioners, and researchers navigating the evolving landscape of investment control and strategic investment.
Our Community
CELIS is powered by a global network of present and former government officials and policy makers, private practitioners, business leaders, and legal and other scholars. Each year, we welcome an international cohort of CELIS Fellows from diverse backgrounds and career stages to exchange ideas and contribute to our mission. CELIS affiliates hold prominent roles across government, academia, and the private sector – reinforcing CELIS’s role as a trusted hub for leadership in investment security. We invest in next‑generation capability through fellowships and Sherpa roles integrated into CFIS programming, because trust-building and open exchange on national security are long-term imperatives in an era of accelerating global fragmentation.
Our funding
Independence and transparency
The CELIS Institute is financially independent and receives no general core funding from any government or private source. Events may be supported by CELIS patrons; research projects and convenings can be funded by a diverse set of bodies, including research councils, trusts and foundations, law firms, national governments, the European Commission and Parliament, and non-governmental organisations – without donor agendas or influence on outcomes.
Editorial and intellectual independence
As a high trust, specialised research, community, policy, and training infrastructure committed to the highest standards of organizational, intellectual, and personal integrity, the CELIS Institute maintains strict intellectual independence and sole editorial direction and control over its ideas, projects, publications, events, and other research activities.
The CELIS Institute does not take institutional positions on policy issues and the content of its publications reflects the views of their authors alone. In keeping with its mission and values, the CELIS Institute does not engage in lobbying activity and complies fully with all applicable lobbying laws. The CELIS Institute will not engage in any representational activities or advocacy on behalf of any entities or interests and, to the extent that the CELIS Institute accepts funding, its activities will be limited to bona fide academic and research-related purposes, consistent with applicable law.
Charitable status and giving options
The CELIS Institute enjoys the status of charitable enterprise. We have no profit motive - by statute, any surplus is reinvested in our mission.
It can also (co-)finance itself through donations and issue so-called donation receipts.
The difference between donation and sponsorship is as follows: A donation is free of any consideration and supports a charitable purpose in full. All other support of the CELIS Institute’s work where some sort of consideration by the sponsor is required - such as the display of a company logo at the CELIS Institute’s website - qualifies as sponsorship. Instead of a donation receipt, an invoice is issued for sponsoring and any taxes that may be due are shown on it.
Tax treatment (no advice)
Sponsorship is generally deductible for companies as operating costs; for companies and individuals, tax authorities typically recognise donations as special expenses (reducing income tax) in accordance with applicable law.
Equal opportunities and institutional integrity
The CELIS Institute is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful research and work environment. We uphold a zero-tolerance policy toward discrimination, harassment, and intimidation in any form. This applies to all individuals engaged with the CELIS Institute – including staff, board members, fellows, contractors, volunteers, speakers, authors, partners, sponsors, and attendees.
We do not discriminate based on race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or political views. All CELIS activities, including events and publications, are governed by principles of professionalism, independence, and integrity.
The CELIS Institute ensures that:
- Conflicts of interest are proactively declared and managed, and all funding acknowledgments are transparent.
- Event conduct follows clear rules, including the use of the Chatham House Rule where appropriate, and all participants are expected to maintain a safe and welcoming environment.
- Complaints are handled confidentially and fairly, with clear procedures for reporting, review, and resolution. Retaliation against complainants is strictly prohibited.
- Personal data is handled lawfully and minimally, in full compliance with GDPR and other applicable regulations.
These commitments are embedded in CELIS Institute’s internal governance and operational standards and reflect our mission to advance better regulation of foreign investment in the context of security, public order, and competitiveness.
CELIS Institute Core Team
Steering Group
Head of Programmes and Strategic Partnerships
Head of Event & Sponsor Relations
Programme Associates
Advisors
CELIS Board of Trustees
CELIS Advisory Fellows
The Institute's history, governance, and oversight
The CELIS Institute was set up in 2020 as a permanent successor to the International Conference on a Common European Law on Investment Screening (CELIS) in 2019. A multi-stakeholder initiative, principally funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, CELIS resulted in the very first, interdisciplinary grounded, comprehensive appraisal of EU foreign investment control, published in the inaugural volume of the Yearbook of Socio-Economic Constitutions in 2021 (Springer).
The non-profit character excludes a distribution of profits to the shareholders. According to law, all profits must be used to fulfil the charitable purpose set out in the statutes of the enterprise. Only projects that are in line with the non-profit purpose may be supported. Entrepreneurial activity must serve the fulfilment of the charitable purpose, not the maximisation of profit. Interest-bearing investments are not permitted.
CELIS maintains a structured governance framework that ensures compliance with all applicable nonprofit, transparency, and financial regulations. Strategic decisions are guided by a commitment to ethical leadership, fiduciary responsibility, and mission alignment. The Institute does not take institutional positions on policy issues, and all publications reflect the views of their authors alone.
CELIS is led by a team of senior experts and advisors with backgrounds in law, policy, and international affairs. All programming, partnerships, and editorial decisions are made independently and in accordance with CELIS’s mission to promote best practices in investment and economic security policy.
The CELIS Institute is headquartered in Berlin.
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