Foreign Direct Investment legislation

New FDI legislation has just came into effect. Law 164/2023 (Law 164), published on 7 June in the Official Gazette of Romania, expands the scope of Emergency Government Ordinance 46/2022 (EGO 46) which implemented in Romania #FDIRegulation 2019/452.

The main amendments brought by Law 164 to EGO 46 are the following:
🔸 Although the threshold of the investment is still of EUR 2mil, the manner in which this threshold is reached shall be established by the #CompetitionCouncil;
🔸 The definition of #investor is expanded to include any EU/non-EU individuals and EU/non-EU legal entities (companies);
🔸 The definition of #investment now includes investments of any nature establishing or maintaining commercial relationships with a Romanian company (e.g. #intragroupchanges, #changesofcontrol, #undertakings, #shar capital increase, extension of production capacities);
🔸 The structure of the Commission for the Examination of Foreign Direct Investments (CEFDI) is updated with one more member, namely a representative of the Energy Ministry – highlighting the clear purpose of putting under #scrutiny all investments in the energy sector.
Based on the above, companies carrying-out/initiating investments falling under the provisions of Law 164 should carefully consider their potential obligation to notify to CEFDI the transactions as well as the time-constraints under the new legislation.