The intersection of EU and its Member States' security in light of the Foreign Direct Investments Screening Regulation

The EU Regulation 2019/452 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Union is the perfect playground where to measure the economic and security needs of the EU Member States and the ones of the European Union. It is a quite delicate framework in which two different competences, the one of the Member States in the field of national security and the other one of the EU in the field of common commercial policy (and, in particular, foreign direct investments, introduced by the Lisbon Treaty) may collide. The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic may increase the occurrence of friction between Member States’ FDI screening mechanisms and EU law.