Clifford Chance

New Czech foreign investment screening regime

8 June 2020

On 6 April 2020 the Czech Government approved a bill of a new act that aims to strengthen the control of foreign direct investments in the Czech Republic (the "FDI Bill"). The FDI Bill has been introduced as a result of the new EU framework for the screening of foreign direct investments, which was adopted on 10 April 2019 and which shall apply from 11 October 2020. If passed by the Parliament as currently proposed, the FDI Bill may have a significant impact on many strategic investments from non-EU countries. Rigorous and potentially retroactive screening of investments may deter potential non-EU investors from considering the Czech Republic as an investment target. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will be in a position to hit the brakes on in-scope transactions made by non-EU investors.

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