EU foreign direct investment, explained

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks with Niclas Poitiers and Damien Levie, head of the FDI screening unit in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security. They discuss how the EU aims to reduce risks, track projects and coordinate national procedures related to non-EU investments in companies and critical infrastructure. How can the EU protect itself when investors from China, the U.S. and other countries want to make a purchase? How should countries decide which deals are important? Would a so-called 28th regime, or pan-EU legal framework, offer a way around bureaucratic backlogs? This conversation explains what is at stake as the Commission, member states and the European Parliament start talks on how to revise the rules.

Relevant research:

• Interinstitutional talks begin on EU’s revised FDI screening mechanism, News article, Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security, European Commission
• Rethinking global supply chains: insights for a changing world, Bruegel event, 18 September 2025

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101061123.