Chapter 3, Section III, Article 18 · Regulation (EU) 2026/1386

Contents

Article 18Secure and encrypted system, online EU portal and secure database#

1.By 17 July 2027, the Commission shall establish and subsequently maintain a secure and encrypted system to facilitate the exchange of information between the contact points. All substantive communications between Member States, as well as between Member States and the Commission under this Regulation, shall be transmitted through that secure and encrypted system, unless the nature of the information requires other means, such as physical documents.

10.By 17 July 2027, the Commission shall upload to the secure database the information it has at its disposal since 12 October 2020 based on the notifications sent by Member States that screened foreign investments pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/452.

11.By 17 January 2028, Member States shall upload to the secure database the information at their disposal about the outcome of their screening mechanisms under Regulation (EU) 2019/452. The Member States and the Commission may also provide additional information or explanations, including, where applicable, relevant business intelligence they have procured and verified from commercial vendors.

12.By 17 July 2027, the Commission shall set out, by means of implementing acts, the arrangements for the functioning of the secure and encrypted system referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and the secure database referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article, and update those arrangements thereafter as necessary. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 29(2).

2.As part of the secure and encrypted system, and at the request of at least nine Member States, the Commission shall establish an online EU portal for the electronic filing of foreign investments with screening authorities and for communications between natural or legal persons making a filing and those authorities (the ‘online EU portal’). The online EU portal shall be operational no later than 12 months from that request.

3.The online EU portal shall be used in Member States that requested its establishment pursuant to paragraph 2. It shall also be used in Member States which, after the establishment of the online EU portal, so request. The online EU portal shall no longer be used in a given Member State where it so requests. The Commission shall publish and keep updated a list of Member States using the online EU portal.

4.Filings of foreign investments in the Member States where the online EU portal is used shall only be made through an online form available on the online EU portal. That form shall include the information required under Article 15(1).

5.By 12 months from the request referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the Commission shall set out, by means of implementing acts, the arrangements for the functioning of the online EU portal and update those arrangements thereafter as necessary. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 29(2).

6.By 17 July 2027, the Commission shall set up a secure database available to all Member States with information on the foreign investments notified through the cooperation mechanism and the outcome of the assessments of those foreign investments under screening mechanisms.

7.After completion of the national procedure, Member States shall upload to the secure database the following information:

(a)name, address or registered office and, where applicable, national registration number of the foreign investor and, where applicable, of the foreign investor’s subsidiary in the Union;

(b)name, registered office and national registration number of the Union target;

(c)name, registered office and national registration number of companies affiliated with the Union target;

(d)outcome of the national procedure under the following categories:

(i)not subject to national screening mechanism (non-eligible);

(ii)authorisation;

(iii)authorisation subject to mitigating measures;

(iv)prohibition;

(v)withdrawal of a filing;

(vi)other;

(e)the Member States that have provided comments and whether the Commission issued an opinion.

Points (a) to (c) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall only apply where the information referred to in those points has not been previously provided pursuant to Article 15(1) or where it has changed since the notification.

8.Member States may upload to the secure database relevant information on cases where mitigating measures were significantly or repeatedly not complied with.

9.By 17 October 2027, the Commission shall provide, by means of implementing acts, technical guidance to Member States concerning the implementation of paragraphs 7, 8 and 11 of this Article, and update that technical guidance thereafter as necessary. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 29(2).

Defined terms · 21

Show every defined term

beneficial owner
means:
completion
means the point in time at which the last condition precedent has been met in relation to an investment decision by the parties to a foreign investment transaction;
contact point
means the person or entity designated by a Member State to send and receive all communication through the cooperation mechanism, including notifications and exchanges of information related to foreign investments covered by this Regulation;
filing
means an initial submission to the screening authority of all information or documentation required under the screening mechanism, including, where applicable, a complete request for authorisation;
foreign investment
means an investment of any kind, carried out either by a foreign investor itself or through a foreign investor’s subsidiary in the Union, aiming to establish or to maintain lasting and direct links between the foreign investor and a Union target, to which the foreign investor makes capital available in order to carry out an economic activity in a Member State, enabling effective participation in the management or control of that Union target;
foreign investor
means:
greenfield investment
means a foreign investment carried out through the establishment of new facilities or of an undertaking for the performance of an economic activity in the Union;
host Member State
means the Member State in which a foreign investment is planned to be or is completed;
internal restructuring
means a reorganisation of a corporate group to which a Union target belongs, which does not result in a change of the beneficial owner of the Union target;
mitigating measure
means any condition imposed by a Member State in order to resolve the likely negative effect on security or public order arising from a foreign investment;
multi-country notification
means a notification sent through the cooperation mechanism by each of the Member States concerned with regard to a multi-country transaction;
multi-country transaction
means a foreign investment subject to screening mechanisms in two or more Member States;
notifying Member State
means a Member State that has notified a foreign investment through the cooperation mechanism pursuant to Article 5;
opaque ownership structure
means an arrangement in which the ownership or control of an entity is unclear, concealed or difficult to ascertain due to, inter alia, the use of complex legal structures, multiple layers of ownership, nominee shareholders, or other mechanisms that obscure the identity of the beneficial owner;
request for authorisation
means a submission under a screening mechanism of a request to authorise a foreign investment subject to a prior authorisation requirement;
screening
means a procedure through which a host Member State can investigate, assess, authorise, authorise subject to mitigating measures, prohibit or unwind foreign investments on the grounds of security or public order;
screening authorities
means the authority or authorities designated by a Member State to carry out screening;
screening decision
means a measure adopted by a screening authority pursuant to a screening mechanism which results in the authorisation, authorisation subject to mitigating measures, prohibition or unwinding of a foreign investment;
screening mechanism
means a legal instrument of general application and accompanying administrative requirements, implementing rules or guidelines, that set out the terms, conditions and procedures for screening;
stockpiling
means storing a quantity of a particular raw material for future use, including in anticipation of possible shortages.
Union target
means an undertaking established or intended to be established under the laws of a Member State;