EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation – Advantage or Burden? Navigating the new regulatory review of foreign subsidies in the EU

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (EUFSR), introduced in 2023, allows the European Commission to investigate foreign subsidies either upon companies’ notification or ex officio. In this context, the Commission enjoys broad powers, including, e.g., the power to conduct dawn raids. Moreover, where the Commission identifies substantive concerns, it has a broad array of remedies at its fingertips. 

The conference, organised in partnership with ACC Europe, through the interactive and live exchange with policy-makers, regulators as well as with the business and legal community, will offer a unique opportunity to gain a clear view on the state of the art in this emerging regulatory area at the nexus of key topics, including international trade rules and policies, state aid, merger control, antitrust, national foreign investment control, and, more broadly, the functioning of the EU Single Market. 

Of relevance is the context of M&A transactions and bids in public procurement processes where companies, following entry into force of EUFSR, are required to notify and receive clearance prior to closing certain transactions or being awarded certain bids. The new requirements apply to EU companies with non-EU activities in the same way as to companies from other countries around the world.  

Legal, CFO, Tax, and top management teams need to be aware of implications for subsidies, acquisitions and public procurement processes to avoid being caught off guard and work closely together to ensure completeness and timely availability of data. 

Against this background, our panels will discuss key EUFSR compliance issues as to what expect from the current and future enforcement by the Commission and how to prepare for and run filing processes.  Guidelines and insights will be provided on the specific challenges of the Global Foreign Financial Contribution Status, i.e. the extremely broad analysis and disclosure of foreign financial contributions received around the world which are not typically available through firms’ standard financial systems. 

Keynote speakers will be Enrico Letta, former Italian Prime Minister and author of “Much More Than a Market”, the report on the future of the EU Single Market, published in April 2024 and commissioned by the Council of the European Union, and Antonio Nicita, current member of the Italian Parliament, former Commissioner of the Italian Communication Authority and member of the EC Regulatory Scrutiny Board, Full Professor of Economic Policy, LUMSA University.

The Conference panels will be held and moderated by senior officials of the European Commission responsible for enforcing the EUFSR, Industry leaders, in-house counsel, and academics.

Agenda:

• To the roots of the EUFSR
  Impact of the EUFSR on EU competitiveness in the Single Market and its interconnections with other policies and regulatory tools, including international trade, merger control, state aid, and direct investment regimes. 

• EUFSR in action
  Sharing experiences and insights on the EUFSR. Comparative analysis between the M&A and public procurement procedures and notification requirements.

• Strategies for companies to improve their EUFSR project success
  The role of technology, AI, dashboards for tracking incentives related to the EUFSR, data mining, data aggregation and analysis tools.