To highlight recent developments in foreign direct investment restrictions in Germany, Baker McKenzie has published a podcast setting out what businesses should be aware of, and what the German regulator will look for. Produced in partnership with Concurrences, our foreign investment experts Samantha Mobley and Anahita Thoms discuss these developments with Angelika Milger, a member of the Investment Screening team at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs. This is the first in a series…
The German Government has further strengthened its FIR regime on 30 April 2021. This amendment is – for now – the last part of a series of three significant amendments, each further strengthening the German FIR regime and adapting it to the EU Framework Screening Regulation. Three modifications are especially notable as they will be highly relevant in practice: Firstly, the amendment drastically extends the scope of transactions that are subject to mandatory notification requirements.…
As part of its updated 2020 Industrial Strategy, the EU Commission noted that the pandemic has highlighted the trading bloc’s technological and industrial strategy dependencies, which need to be analysed and addressed as part of Europe’s economic recovery. The Commission identified 137 products out of 5,200 products imported into the EU (representing 6% of the value of the EU’s total import value of goods) on which the EU is highly dependent in notably sensitive sectors.…
On 5 May 2021, the European Commission (Commission) published a proposed Regulation, along with an impact assessment report, aiming to address potential distortions caused by foreign subsidies in the Single Market (the Proposed Regulation). The Proposed Regulation as drafted introduces an additional regulatory requirement for companies doing business in Europe. Inevitably, it will increase the regulatory risk and burden for companies that are active in the EU and have received foreign (i.e. non-EU) subsides. Under…
1. Overview On 18 December 2020, the Italian Government issued implementing rules identifying which assets within the sectors listed in the EU FDI Regulation will be deemed “strategic” for Italian foreign investment review (FIR) purposes. These implementing rules will enter into force on 14 January 2021 (New Implementing Rules). The EU FDI Regulation, which became fully operational on 11 October 2020, specifies certain factors and sectors that Member States may take into consideration when deciding…
On 30 December 2020, the EU and China reached an agreement “in principle” for a new EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (“CAI”) (see our previous update here). The CAI concludes seven years of investment negotiations, that begun in October 2013, and is expected to come into force later this year. In its press release (see here), the EU stated that the CAI was the “most ambitious agreement that China has ever concluded with a third…
Recent media reports indicate that the EU and China are making progress in long-running negotiations towards a deal to remove barriers to foreign investment. Agreement may potentially be reached by the end of 2020, after seven years of often difficult talks. Negotiations regarding an EU-China investment agreement initially kicked off in 2013. The aim of the agreement is to provide certainty, protection and predictable market access for EU and China investors, with the key sticking…
On 25 July 2020, amid Covid-crisis, a new law governing foreign investment review in Austria entered into force. The new law – under the title Investment Control Act (“ICA”) – significantly broadened the scope of foreign investment review in Austria. The ICA now applies to direct and indirect acquisitions of Austrian companies (including Austrian subsidiaries), asset deals or acquisitions of voting rights (starting with a threshold of only 10% in particularly sensitive sectors). After almost…
The Administrative Court of Stockholm (the “Court”) has decided on a suspension of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority’s (“PST”) ban on Huawei, which prevents Huawei from gaining access to Sweden’s new 5G network, on the grounds that the ban has negative effects on the company’s rights and that the final outcome in this case is uncertain.[1] We have in a recent post described the ban on Chinese tech-giants Huawei and ZTE, which stops the…
Last week, the EU published the results of its public consultation on the White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies. Out of the 150 responses received from EU member states, EU companies and foreign governments (including China and the US), feedback was generally positive and member states are generally in favour of taking legislative action. Amongst the responses were also warnings that the EU should take great care to avoid any…