CELIS-Blog
The Anti-Coercion Instrument – The Practical Repercussions of the ACI’s Entry into Force (Part I)
By Anh Nguyen, University of Amsterdam Ever since its inception, the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) has been trumpeted as a new shield against ‘economic bullying’ of the EU and its member states. Rather than being a legal instrument to be directly deployed against the EU’s trade partners, it was conceived as a deterrent instrument to…
Read More ...Looking Into the Crystal Ball: What Does 2024 Have in Store for Investment Screening?
By Sophie Bohnert, Vienna University of Economics and Business/College of Europe A 2024 Kick-Off Message from the Editors The CELIS Blog is back after its winter break! The Editorial Team wishes all readers, supporters, and partners a Happy New Year! The Editors would like to thank the CELIS Institute and its Board of Directors for…
Read More ...The CELIS Institute together with BLOMSTEIN have successfully assisted AmCham Moldova in improving the national Moldovan FDI law and align it with best practises in the EU
Over the past three months, the CELIS Institute has brought together a team of leading FDI experts to assist the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Moldova in improving Moldova’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening mechanism. The team supporting this process consisted of Dr Roland M. Stein and Dr Laura Louca from BLOMSTEIN and Professor…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – December 2023
Romania – New Amendments to the Romanian FDI regime On 6 December 2023 the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 108/2023 (“GEO 108/2023) was published in the Official Gazette. GEO 108/2023 provides for new amendments to Romania’s Competition Law no. 21/1996, aimed at fully transposing the EU Directive 1/2019 into local law. Main legislative changes include the…
Read More ...A message from the Editorial Team – Holiday Break
The Editorial Team of the CELIS Blog will be offline for the holidays. The CELIS Blog will be back with more exciting news on investment screening and beyond on 8 January 2024.
Read More ...Launch of the CELIS German Chapter and BDI-Event in Berlin
By Leonard von Rummel, BLOMSTEIN If you are interested in the latest developments and challenges in the field of investment screening and its impact on the German economy, you should not miss the Investment Screening Conference hosted by BDI and CELIS German Chapter on February 20, 2024 at the Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft in Berlin.…
Read More ...Lessons learned from the “Kleo Connect” Case
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…
Read More ...Huawei Technologies Co. LTD. v. The Kingdom of Sweden – ISDS as a potential remedy against the Huawei ban from the 5G rollout?
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…
Read More ...Screening Regime for Foreign Investment to be Introduced in Ireland
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…
Read More ...Marking a New Investment Era in Sweden: Enter the Swedish FDI Regime
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,…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – November 2023
Ireland – Introduction of a new FDI screening regime on 31 October 2023 On 31 October 2023, the Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 was signed into law. Since the initial draft was published on 2 August 2022, the Act has undergone a series of amendments during the course of 2023,. Therewith, for the…
Read More ...Taking due process seriously – The Administrative Court of Berlin doubles down on FDI procedural rules
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…
Read More ...Anti-subsidy investigation in Chinese Electric Vehicles: fairness, global competition and geopolitics
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…
Read More ...China’s growing assertiveness in the use of economic sanctions: where are we heading?
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…
Read More ...Building Resilience in Investment Screening and Economic Security: Lessons from India
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…
Read More ...Between Openness and Security: CFIS 23 – Roundtable ‘Looking for a design of Europe’s Screening Mechanism(s)’
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…
Read More ...The UK’s National Security and Investment Regime: Key insights from the Annual Report 2022-23
By Nissim Massarano, Clifford Chance[1] On 11 July 2023, the UK’s Investment Security Unit (“ISU”) released its annual report on the operation of the UK National Security and Investment (“NSIA”) regime for the period covering 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 (here). The Annual Report provides aggregated data on the operation of the…
Read More ...CELIS Update on Investment Screening – October 2023
Germany – Upcoming Investment Screening Act and the 20th Amendment to the AWV There is a new Investment Screening Act upcoming in Germany – the new law is expected to separate the foreign direct investment screening rules from the German Foreign Trade Laws (contained in AWG and AWV), restructuring them into an isolated law. A…
Read More ...Trade and Investment between the EU and India: A promising horizon with a closer look at negotiation roadblocks.
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…
Read More ...‘A Chain Works Just as Well as its Weakest Link’ – CFIS Keynote and Roundtable on the Review of the EU FDI Screening Regulation
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.…
Read More ...The Anti-Coercion Instrument has been adopted
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…
Read More ...Economic Security in the EU: Key Takeaways from CFIS 2023
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,…
Read More ...Quelling the Flames or Fighting Fire with Fire? The EU’s Two Approaches to Foreign Subsidies
By Pierfrancesco Mattiolo, University of Antwerp At the base of the EU State aid regime is the principle that Member States cannot grant subsidies to their companies unless authorized by the European Commission. Subsidies are frowned upon by the EU Treaties since they may distort the internal market and create disparities between the Member States…
Read More ...It’s that time of year again: The European Commission’s Third Annual Report on FDI Screening is out!
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…
Read More ...Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. v Canada – Investment arbitration as a potential remedy against negative FDI screening decisions?
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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