Commercial Information Circular

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref. : EIC 230/6/13

25 March 2019

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 217/2019

European Union (EU)* : Establishment of a framework for the screening of foreign direct investment

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have published a regulation to establish a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the EU, that aims to safeguard EU's security, public order and strategic interests on foreign investments. The regulation will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU on 21 March 2019. EU Member States and the European Commission will have 18 months to put in place the necessary arrangements for the application of the new mechanism and the regulation will apply from 11 October 2020. The regulation is available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019R0452. An overview of the regulation can be found at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2019/february/tradoc_157683.pdf.

2.For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5684.

Yours faithfully,

(Manus LUI)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU member countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.