Foreign subsidies

Brexit, China, Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Merger control, Private investment, Property investment, Public procurement, Regulation, Remedies, State owned enterprise (SOE), Subsidies, Switzerland, Tax, Taxation, Tender, Trade Law, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America

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On 12 January 2023, the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) entered into force. The majority of the FSR will start to apply on 12 July 2023. The FSR constitutes a new investigatory review tool for the European Commission. It will focus on economic behaviour on the internal market by companies who received foreign subsidies…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Foreign subsidies

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“All animals are equal but some are more equal than others” (George Orwell, ‘Animal Farm’) On 28 November 2022, the Council of the European Union gave its final approval to the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation 2022/2560 (the FSR). The regulation addresses distortions created by subsidies that are granted by non-EU countries to companies operating…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Regulation

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On 28 November 2022, the EU adopted the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, giving the European Commission powers to intervene to tackle foreign subsidies distorting competition in the EU internal market. The FSR, due to apply by mid-2023, will have a major impact on companies that engage in M&A and public tenders in the EU, and which…

Brexit, Foreign subsidies, State aid, Subsidies, United Kingdom

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Following its exit from the European Union, the UK is no longer bound by the EU’s rules governing public subsidies.  At the end of April 2022, the UK Parliament passed the Subsidy Control Act 2022, which sets out a new framework for granting and controlling public subsidies.  The Act is expected to enter into full…

European Union, Foreign subsidies

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

On June 30, in the final hours of the French Presidency, the European Council and the European Parliament announced agreement on a regulation on distortive foreign subsidies (the Foreign Subsidy Regulation, or FSR).  The FSR creates a unique new antitrust regime to combat distortions of competition in the European Union (EU) caused by subsidies multinationals…

European Union, Foreign subsidies, Merger control, State aid, State owned enterprise (SOE), Subsidies, Trade Law

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

Exactly one year after the European Commission (Commission) proposed the Anti-Subsidy Regulation (the Regulation) (discussed on KCLB already here and here), on May 5, 2022, EU legislators launched their “trilogue” negotiations to reach an agreement on the final text. The Regulation is a global first. It combines elements of traditional merger control, EU State aid review…

European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Foreign subsidies, Merger control, Podcast, Trade Law

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We are happy to announce the new International Law Talk Podcast episode on the interrelations between merger control, FDI, subsidy control & EU trade law. In the episode, I discuss with competition and trade experts and my former colleagues François-Charles Laprévote and Wanjie Lin from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. We focus on the…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Merger control, Subsidies

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

The European Union (EU) is readying revolutionary new powers for the European Commission (the Commission) to combat distortions of competition resulting from subsidies from non-EU governments.  The new regime, laid out in a proposed regulation (the Anti-Subsidy Regulation) published in May 2021, could be in effect as soon as mid-2023.  The regulation includes new mandatory notification…

European Champions, European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Foreign subsidies, Merger control, Public procurement, Subsidies, White Paper

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

On May 5, 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted a proposal for a regulation (the Anti-Subsidy Regulation) to combat distortions of competition in the European Union (EU) caused by subsidies granted by non-EU Member States to companies doing business in the EU.  The Anti-Subsidy Regulation is an important part of the von der Leyen…

European Union, Foreign subsidies, White Paper

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

Adopting new tools to combat the effects of foreign subsidies is a top European Union (EU) priority for 2021; a no-deal Brexit would raise the stakes for this initiative significantly.   The European Commission (EC) believes that non-European State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and other companies receive subsidies that can distort competition in the European single market.  Trade…