In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie talks with Niclas Poitiers and Damien Levie, head of the FDI screening unit in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security. They discuss how the EU aims to reduce risks, track projects and coordinate national procedures related to non-EU investments in companies and critical infrastructure. How can the EU protect itself when investors from China, the U.S. and other countries want to make a purchase? How should countries decide which deals are important? Would a so-called 28th regime, or pan-EU legal framework, offer a way around bureaucratic backlogs? This conversation explains what is at stake as the Commission, member states and the European Parliament start talks on how to revise the rules.

Relevant research:

Interinstitutional talks begin on EU’s revised FDI screening mechanism, News article, Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security, European Commission

Rethinking global supply chains: insights for a changing world, Bruegel event, 18 September 2025

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101061123.