In July 2023 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rendered its judgment in case no. C-106-22 (Xella Judgment), referred by the Fővárosi Törvényszék (Budapest High Court, Hungary) for preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 65(1)(b) TFEU in conjunction with recitals 4 and 6 of Regulation (EU) 2019/452 (EU FDI Regulation) and Article 4(2) TEU. The article written by Blanka Börzsönyi, Senior Associate, Corporate and M&A Group.

Since the end of the 2010s foreign direct investment considerations have been on the forefront of transaction planning and management. Although a unified EU-level screening mechanism is not in place, recently the European Commission closed a landmark case, while another one is currently ongoing before the European Court of Justice where the interplay of EU law and more specifically, EU merger law and national FDI rules were/are assessed. This summary therefore provides a quick glance-through of the key notables taken from these cases.