EU Report Shows More FDI Screening Regimes Coming Online
All 27 EU member states have either adopted a regime to screen foreign direct investments or have begun official talks to soon put one in place, the European Commission said in its annual report on FDI released last week. The report, which analyzes member state FDI screening activities for 2023, said 24 members so far have a screening tool in place, up from 21 around the same time last year (see 2310200038).
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The three remaining countries -- Croatia, Cyprus and Greece -- have “taken concrete steps” to soon stand up their own regime, the commission said. The EU introduced a proposal earlier this year that would make it mandatory for all EU members to screen foreign investments (see 2401240078).
The progress among EU members shows the “increased levels of attention being paid to the risks that certain investments from third countries may present to the security or public order” in the EU, the commission said.
The report also shows that out of the 488 cases that member states notified to the commission in 2023, 92% were closed within 15 days, while just 8% required a “more detailed security assessment. The commission issued an opinion -- which occurs when the bloc thinks an investment may affect EU security -- in less than 2% of those notified transactions.
Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain were responsible for 85% of those notifications, the report said. Most notifications involved investments in the manufacturing (23%), wholesale and retail (21%), financial activities (14%), professional activities (11%) and accounting (11%) sectors.
The U.S. continued to be the main foreign investor into the EU in 2023, accounting for 30% of all acquisitions and 36% of greenfield investments, while the U.K. accounted for 25% of all acquisitions and 21% of greenfield projects, continuing similar trends from the previous year. The report also noted that net global FDI flows declined for the second straight year, falling below 2021 levels.