Europe calls for feedback on Foreign Subsidies Regulation

The FSR allows Europe to block companies subsidised by foreign governments from public procurement, mergers, and acquisitions. It can also prevent the sale of goods and services into the European single market.

According to the Regulations, companies have to notify their public procurement tenders in the EU when the estimated value of the contract exceeds €250 million, and when the company was granted at least €4 million in foreign financial contributions from at least one third country in the three years prior to notification.

Brussels has already used the FSR to conduct investigations across different industry sectors, including the launch in 2024 of an investigation into two Chinese consortia in the running for a Romanian tender to design, build, and operate a 455MW solar park called Rovinari Est. Both groups subsequently withdrew their bids.

The Commission said it wanted feedback from companies, business associations, law firms and member states about the FSR through a public consultation that will run until 18 November 2025.

It has also issued a call for evidence seeking more general feedback on the main aims of the FSR review report, its scope, and context.

The review report will focus on:

• The assessment of foreign subsidies that distort the internal market;
• The application of the balancing test (whether positive effects of the foreign subsidy counterbalance its distortive effects);
• The review of foreign subsidies with a possible distortive effect in the internal market on the Commission’s own initiative;
• The notification thresholds;
• The level of complexity of the rules and the costs incurred by businesses.

The news comes a month after the European Union (EU) said it would pursue more subsidy investigations against foreign companies investing in the region, in a bid to root out foreign competition.