Background In a rare and exceptional case, the Dutch government has used old legislation, originally intended to deal with national emergencies and threats, to intervene in the affairs of a private Dutch semiconductor company under Chinese ownership. On 30 September 2025, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs invoked the Goods Availability Act (Wet beschikbaarheid goederen) to mitigate perceived risks to national security in relation to semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia. The ministerial order was driven by serious…
On 1 July 2024, the Dutch government published a legislative proposal specifically aimed at ensuring national security in the defense sector, through the so-called Defense Resilience and Safety Related Sector Act (Wet weerbaarheid defensie en veiligheid gerelateerde industrie, the “Proposed Act”). Importantly, the Proposed Act – which needs to be seen in the broader context of current geopolitical tensions and Dutch and European policy priorities to safeguard strategic autonomy and prevent undue influence from undesired…
Judicial review of FDI enforcement is rare in the Netherlands. In one of the first matters brought before a Dutch court, the broad retro-active ‘call-in’ powers of the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate (‘Minister’), as provided for in the Act on Security Screening of Investments, Mergers and Acquisitions (‘Vifo Act’ or ‘Act’), were scrutinised and the Minister’s enforcement actions were effectively curtailed. The ruling from the District Court of Rotterdam (‘Court’) on 25…