France's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening regime has become a defining-and often decisive-step in M&A involving strategic assets and sensitive technologies. Over the last decade, it has evolved into a core element of deal structuring in France, now as essential as antitrust review or broader regulatory compliance.
France retains powerful tools to safeguard national interests when a foreign investor acquires an interest in a company that performs public-authority functions or carries out activities likely to affect public order, public security, or national defense. The review is led by the Bureau for Foreign Investment Screening (CIEF) within the Directorate General of the Treasury, operating through an interministerial framework. The Minister of the Economy may clear a transaction (with or without conditions) or prohibit it. Non-compliance may result in significant administrative and financial penalties-and, in certain cases, criminal sanctions-as well as the risk that the transaction be deemed void, unwound, or subject to forced divestment.
This fully updated English-language edition offers a comprehensive and practical guide to the French FDI screening framework. It integrates key developments, including DG Trésor's 2025 annual report (covering 2024 activity) and updated 2025 guidelines, the European Union's ongoing reform of its screening mechanism, enhanced transparency requirements under France's Foreign Interference Act and related HATVP guidance, and the 2025 National Strategic Review.
Written for both new and experienced practitioners, the book provides:
• clear explanations of the legal foundations and scope of the IEF regime;
• a step-by-step walkthrough of procedures and timelines;
• detailed insights on conditions, remedies, monitoring, and enforcement;
• practical diagrams, annexes, and case studies;
• a rigorous overview of jurisprudence and administrative practice.
Designed for in-house counsel, attorneys, investors, advisors, bankers, public officials, policymakers, and academics, this reference work is indispensable for anyone involved in sensitive and regulated cross-border transactions in France.
