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ARTICLE · 27 DECEMBER 2018

EU And Germany Move To Further Tighten FDI Screening Process

WilmerHale
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We also discuss the forthcoming German legal changes.

GermanyGovernment, Public Sector
Naboth Van Den Broek
Naboth Van Den Broek
Martin Seyfarth
Martin Seyfarth
Christian Duvernoy
Christian Duvernoy
Geoffroy Barthet
Geoffroy Barthet
Stephanie Forrest
Stephanie Forrest
Semira Nikou
Semira Nikou
Lars S. Otto, LLM
Lars S. Otto, LLM
Author LinkedIn connections

The past two weeks have seen two major developments in relation to the screening of foreign direct investment in the European Union ("EU") for national security or public order reasons.  First, on December 10, 2018, the EU Parliament's Committee on International Trade ("INTA") approved a proposed regulation establishing a framework for screening foreign direct investment ("FDI") in the European Union (the "Proposal" or "Proposed Regulation"). INTA's vote followed the prior political agreement on December 5 among representatives of the Parliament, the Council (representing the EU Member States) and the European Commission on a final text.  This means that formal approval of the Proposed Regulation can now take place by March 2019, before next year's Parliamentary elections. (See also our prior client alert here.)  Second, on December 19, the German Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance was amended to enlarge the range of transactions that can be reviewed for

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