Disclaimer: This translation is a working translation only and is not legally binding.
12. What is the European foreign investment screening
mechanism?
The European regulation establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct
investments into the European Union entered into force on 11 October 2020. This regulation
provides for the implementation of a mechanism allowing Member States and the
European Commission to better cooperate and share intelligence on transactions
carried out by investors originating outside the European Union in one or more Member
States.
Pursuant to the European regulation, any transaction involving a non-European Union
entity in the investor’s ownership chain must be notified to the European network.
Consequently, investors, or their legal counsel, must include the European notification form
in their application for authorisation. The form, which must be completed in English, is
available on the Directorate General of the Treasury’s website. The government also
recommends including an English translation of the application for authorisation, in Word
format, that outlines, with supporting rationale, any information that should not be shared with
the European network.
The European cooperation mechanism for screening foreign direct investments does not
increase the amount of time afforded under the national procedure for screening foreign
direct investments in France.
All communication taking place under the cooperation mechanism is confidential, and
information is exchanged through secure channels that comply with national and European
procedures and standards.
For more information on foreign direct investment screening in France, please refer to:
Investissements étrangers en France | Direction générale du Trésor (in French)
References:
Articles L.151-1 et seq. of the Monetary and Financial Code (in French)
Articles R.151-1 et seq. of the Monetary and Financial Code (in French)
Order of 31 December 2019 relating to foreign investments in France (in French)
Decree No. 2021-1758 of 22 December 2021 extending the temporary measure to lower the
threshold for the screening of foreign investments in French companies whose shares are
admitted to trading on a regulated market (in French)
Article 459 of the Customs Code (in French)
Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019
establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union
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December 2022