A Common EU Law on Investment Screening

DEBATE

How should the EU deal with politically sensitive takeover bids from third-country state-run companies, most of all from China? In March, this and other questions will be discussed at an international conference, organized by SDU and the University of Gothenburg. In the run-up to this event, we open the debate with an online symposium.

15 February 2019

Stefan Korte

In Search of a Role for the Member States and the EU to Establish an Investment Screening Mechanism

Investments in enterprises, which are relevant for public security and services, are an important source of growth, jobs and innovations. But such investments can be detrimental to the security of supply for the community members – for example, when a state owned enterprise, which is located in a third state, gets control over the only electricity station in a Member State.

Sven Simon

What Powers at What Level?

How to allocate the powers to collect information, surveil and restrict investment between the EU and the Member States? This question has far reaching ramifications for the underlying political relationship between the EU and its Member States.

Age Bakker

The Political Economy of Capital Controls and Liberalization

In the face of rising global tensions the free flow of direct investment capital across borders is in dispute. The self-evidence of free capital movements since the start of the euro can no longer be taken for granted. Concerns have emerged about the intentions of foreign investors acquiring domestic key industries.

11 February 2019

Mavluda Sattorova

National Security and Investment Screening: the UK proposal and its problems

In its white paper published in July 2018, the government has acknowledged the key role of foreign investment for the UK’s growth and development, whilst also noting that ‘a small number of investment activities, mergers and transactions in the UK economy pose a risk to our national security.’ The aim of the proposed reforms is to ensure that in these cases the UK government is able to intervene in order to prevent or mitigate such risks.

Joanna Warchol

Inter-institutional Agreement Reached on Framework for Screening of Foreign Direct Investments

The EU has one of the world's most open investment regimes, and collectively EU Member States have the fewest restrictions in the world on foreign direct investment. A proposal for a Union Act on the Screening of foreign investment in strategic sectors was tabled by ten Members of International Trade Committee (INTA) at the European Parliament (EP). The inter-institutional “provisional” agreement is going to be voted by the full House of the EP on the 14th of February 2019.

08 February 2019

Teoman M. Hagemeyer