On 15 January 2025, the European Commission (EC) published a Recommendation calling on EU Member States to review outbound investments of their companies into non-EU countries. The Recommendation applies to three technology areas of strategic importance as well as the highest risk – semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies – and calls on Member States to assess risks to economic security potentially arising from such transactions.
The EC states that this review of outbound investments will inform a decision on whether further action is needed – at EU and/or national levels – to address any risks identified. The Commission’s ultimate objective is to prevent EU outbound investments from negatively impacting the economic security of the Union by ensuring that key technologies and know-how do not fall into the wrong hands.
The Recommendation on outbound investments builds on a White Paper and subsequent public consultation, which confirmed the need to assess potential risks to the EU’s security related to outbound investments.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202500063