The strategy comes as part of a broader EU-wide effort to rein in foreign investors from taking control of European companies in strategic or sensitive sectors, such as when Chinese shipping giant Cosco attempted to buy a container terminal in the Port of Hamburg two years ago.
The draft document waters down the original Commission proposal by narrowing the list of strategic sectors subject to mandatory FDI screening, where the EU executive said that EU countries would be required to screen foreign investments into AI, chips, quantum technologies, energy technologies, space, drones or critical medicines.
But while it adds more detail — explicitly naming “core components or software of semiconductor manufacturing equipment,” lithography, microprocessors and memory chips — the new Council text stops short of requiring national authorities to act.
Instead, the new text, dated April 14, only recommends that EU governments “take [those sectors] into consideration” when assessing whether a foreign investment poses a threat to security or public order.
By contrast, in its own position on the rules, the European Parliament doubled down on the Commission’s original intent — seeking to add more sectors that capitals must monitor such as aerospace, rail transport or the automotive industry.
Diplomats from national capitals do not expect their final position to significantly change before institutions enter into negotiations to finalize the legislation. Agreeing on which sectors should be subject to screening will likely be the most contentious aspect of those talks.
