EU Evaluating New Outbound Investment, Chip Controls, Trade Official Says

The EU is “assessing” whether to create an outbound investment screening regime, which could help it address “gaps” in its dual-use export controls, Valdis Dombrovskis, the bloc’s top trade official, told the European Parliament this week. “We're currently at the exploratory stage,” he said.

Dombrovskis said the EU is discussing the idea with the U.S., which reportedly is close to releasing an executive order that would allow the Biden administration to screen American investments in sensitive technology sectors in China (see 2303060007 and 2303090061). “We’re coordinating efforts to ensure that sensitive technologies are not leaked through outbound investments,” Dombrovskis told the parliament’s Committee on International Trade March 21.

Before it decides whether to set up an outbound investment screening regime, Dombrovskis said the European Commission is “collecting data” on EU investors. That will “basically support further policy discussions in this area,” he said. “Given that we are in this exploratory stage, it's probably premature to express concrete views on timing and design of this possible new EU” mechanism. “It’s something which we're currently assessing and looking at.”

He also said the EU is considering new semiconductor export controls, which could align some of the bloc’s restrictions with those imposed by the Commerce Department’s sweeping October chip control rule that targeted China (see 2210070049). The Netherlands earlier this month said it plans to impose some of the controls and is working to help introduce the restrictions EU-wide (see 2303090032).

“Currently there are discussions ongoing on possible Europeanization or application of those export controls at the European level,” Dombrovskis said. The commission is having those “discussions with relevant countries who also have an advanced semiconductor industry.”