Extending the scope of the Romanian FDI Screening Regime to EU investors and below-control acquisitions
A little over one year since Romania’s new foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening regime (that we previously wrote about here and here) became fully operational, the Romanian government passed an emergency ordinance meant to further clarify particular aspects under the law (such as the scope of the screening regime, which is further extended) or to translate into law the lessons learnt or the authorities’ reading of the rules since applying the new FDI law.
The new changes to the FDI law were introduced by Government Emergency Ordinance no. 108/2023 on amending the supplementing Competition Law no. 21/1996, as well as other normative acts (the “FDI Amendment Law”, published in the Official Gazette on 6 December 2023. The new law also aims to transpose under Romanian law some remaining aspects in the ECN+ Directive (please see our comments on the newly introduced competition law changes here) and to further strengthen the investigative powers of the Romanian Competition Council (“RCC”). The RCC is also the authority in charge of formally issuing FDI clearances for no-issue cases, whereas the FDI screening itself is conducted by a separate body under the government’s authority, i.e., the FDI Screening Commission (“CEISD”). Read more
