A decisive step towards strengthening foreign investment screening to protect strategic sectors

Today, the European Parliament adopted a major revision of the Foreign Investment Screening Regulation.

Renew Europe welcomes this decisive adoption for the Union's strategic autonomy, which combines openness to investment with protection of our crucial interests. At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, this ambitious and reassuring framework is vital.

While the current regulation mainly established a cooperation framework between Member States, this major revision makes it compulsory for all EU countries to adopt national screening mechanisms. This essential measure is part of the European economic security strategy adopted in 2024.

The new framework voted by the European Parliament also requires Member States to apply it to a wider range of sensitive sectors, such as transport infrastructure, energy supply and the media. It also harmonizes procedures and deadlines and strengthens the Commission's role, enabling it, as a last resort, to block an investment or impose mitigation measures in case of risk to security or public order in several Member States.

Renew Europe has actively contributed to this report by securing :

- An earlier assessment date and shorter deadlines

- Increased harmonization of rules and greater transparency

- The exclusion of investments resulting from resolution tools and internal restructurings

- The establishment of a business intelligence capability to support Member States' screening authorities

"While we welcome foreign investments, which are essential to the prosperity of our single market, we need to know who is investing in our strategic sectors and European programmes," emphasizes Marie-Pierre Védrenne (Modem, France), shadow rapporteur on this file and Renew coordinator for the Committee on International Trade (INTA). "The greater the harmonisation of screening is between Member States, the easier it is to identify and address multi-country investments, and the greater the legal certainty for investors".

We are now counting on the Council to maintain the ambition reaffirmed at today's plenary session, during the inter-institutional negotiations that will begin shortly.