CELIS-Country-Reports

by Suzana Tavares da Silva and Marta Vicente, CELIS Country Reporter for Portugal. The Portuguese screening mechanism is enshrined in Decree-law no. 138/2014, of 15 September, which was approved amidst the 2010 financial crisis. It covers business operations whereby third-country investors acquire control over strategic assets, which are likely to embody a real and sufficiently serious…

by Dr. Michael Brüggemann and Tim Hendricks. The German investment screening mechanism provides cooperation between national authorities at various points. First and foremost, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action, the BMWK, as the lead ministry, involves other federal ministries whose remits could be affected by the transaction under review and requires the approval…

by Dr. Cheng Bian, CELIS Assisstant Country Reporter for China. Since January 2021, a ‘Working Mechanism’ has been established as the successor of the ‘Joint Ministerial Conference’, and is the official review agency of China’s national security review regime. The Working Mechanism is an inter-ministerial agency led by the National Development and Reform Commission and…

by Dr. Frank Schöning und Julius Gertz, CELIS Country Reporter for Germany. Germany introduced a general foreign direct investment (FDI) screening system in 2009. The practical relevance of this system for transactions remained limited until around 2017, when Chinese investments in companies active in critical sectors and technologies attracted more regulatory attention. Since then, the…

CELIS Country Note on Mexico, 2024 by Galo Marquez, CELIS Assistant Country Reporter for Mexico Mexico’s complex regulatory landscape for foreign investment, needs an examination of the intricate interplay between national policies and international agreements. The dichotomy between Mexico’s role in the United States-Mexico Agreement (USMCA) and its evolving political climate sets the stage for…

CELIS Country Note on Spain, 2024 by Jesús García Aparicio and Paula Arroyo, CELIS Country Reporter for Spain Foreign investments in Spain have been liberalized since 2003, except for certain sectors. However, the current legal framework requires pre-closing authorization by the Spanish regulator for screening and control of foreign investments in Spanish companies and/or assets under…

CELIS Country Note on Albania, 2024 by Elvis Zerva, CELIS Assistant Country Reporter for Albania This Note provides background on the FDIs system in Albania and the prospects of adopting investment screening mechanisms as part of the country obligation to approximate its legislation with the acquis. Albania’s foreign trade regime was liberalized only in early…

CELIS Country Note on Hungary, 2024 by Csongor István Nagy and Bálint Kovács, CELIS Country Reporter for Hungary The framework for investment screening in Hungary is dual. There is a screening mechanism established in force since 2019, focused on the risks posed by foreign direct investment (FDI) to national security. The second mechanism was adopted…

CELIS Country Note on Romania, 2024 by Georgiana Badescu and Cristiana Manea, CELIS Country Reporter for Romania Romania implemented the Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and the Council via a foreign direct investment (FDI) regime which became effective in April 2022. While this initial FDI regime expressly covered non-EU investors only, defined by…

CELIS Country Note on the Netherlands, 2023 by Wessel Geuerns and Jochem de Kok, CELIS Country Reporters for the Netherlands. The Dutch framework for investment screening consists of a general Security Screening Act, as well as sector-specific investment screening mechanisms in the gas, electricity and telecommunication sectors under the Dutch Gas, Electricity and Telecom Acts.…