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The InvKG creates a stand-alone horizontal FDI-screening regime layered on Austria's EU Reg 2019/452 obligations. Four operating axes:
1. Scope — three threshold tiers (§3 InvKG). - Annex Part 1 (especially sensitive sectors): mandatory notification at acquisition of ≥ 10%, ≥ 25%, or ≥ 50% of voting rights, OR acquisition of a controlling influence, OR acquisition of essential assets. Covers defence equipment / technology / services (Common Military List + Annex I dual-use), critical energy / water / telecoms / transport / health-system infrastructure, critical technologies (AI, quantum, robotics, semiconductors, biotech, cybersecurity, advanced materials), supply of critical inputs (medicines, vaccines, medical devices, PPE). - Annex Part 2 (broader sectors): mandatory notification at ≥ 25% or ≥ 50% of voting rights. Covers media (broadcast, online), food-security infrastructure, financial-market infrastructure not already in Part 1, energy / water / telecoms infrastructure not already classified as "especially sensitive", and other sectors where security or public order risks may arise. - Acquirer scope: applies to direct or indirect acquisitions by non-EU / non-EEA / non-Swiss legal or natural persons.
2. Substantive test (§5 InvKG). The acquisition is approved unless it endangers security or public order, including the maintenance of services of general interest and crisis-response capabilities. The test is aligned with Article 4 of EU Reg 2019/452 (factors: effects on critical infrastructure, critical technology, supply of critical inputs, access to sensitive information, freedom and pluralism of the media; investor profile incl. third-country government control, prior sanctions / serious criminal activity).
3. Procedure (§§7–14 InvKG). Notification triggers a two-phase review: (i) Phase 1 — within one month, BMAW issues a clearance certificate, opens an in-depth review, or refers the file to the inter-ministerial Komitee für Investitionskontrolle; (ii) Phase 2 — in-depth review within two months, extendable to three months on EU-cooperation grounds. Decisions are by ministerial decree (Bescheid), subject to administrative-court review at the Bundesverwaltungsgericht and (on appeal) the Verwaltungsgerichtshof. Standstill obligation: closing prohibited prior to clearance; transactions closed in breach are null and void under §10(3) InvKG.
4. Sanctions (§15 InvKG). Closing in breach of the standstill obligation: administrative penalty up to EUR 100,000 (natural persons) and criminal liability up to one year imprisonment for intentional or grossly negligent breach. False or incomplete notification: administrative penalty up to EUR 50,000.
The Act originally contained a sunset clause (§17(2)) limiting its operation to 30 June 2022. The sunset was permanently removed by the 1. InvKG-Novelle (BGBl. I Nr. 80/2022 of 14 July 2022), making the regime indefinite.
which all future Austrian FDI screening decisions, sector-list expansions, and EU-cooperation referrals operate. Filing it brings Austria into the IPTM register at the same hierarchical layer as US CFIUS (DPA §721), UK NSI Act 2021, Germany AWG §§55-62, France Décret 2014-479 / R. 151-1, Italy Golden Power Decree, Netherlands Wet Vifo, Denmark investeringsscreeningsloven, Singapore SIRA, Belgium ISC Cooperation Agreement, New Zealand OIA (as amended 2025), and Hungary Act L of 2025 — all already filed.
States with a horizontal FDI screening regime in force (as at filing date 12 May 2026). The InvKG is the Austrian transposition layer of EU Reg 2019/452 cooperation mechanism — every Austrian screening decision feeds into the EU coordination process and can be cross-referenced by peer Member States.
Unlike DE / FR / NL (which host EU-systemic critical-technology champions: ASML, Airbus, Siemens, Infineon-DE, NXP, ESA prime contractors) Austria's FDI caseload is moderate — c. 50-80 reviewed transactions per year per BMAW reporting, mostly in the Annex-Part-2 / media / health-services bands. Severity 4 (not 5) reflects the parity-with-peers role rather than a prohibition or divestiture posture.
(from 0). Completes the EU horizontal-FDI-screening cohort in the register at the parent-statute layer for the EU-3 + Benelux + Nordics + CEE bloc.
Austrian screening decisions, sector-list extensions (cf. the 2025 government-programme proposal to extend the 10% threshold to media and health), or EU-Commission opinion follow-ups should chain via responds_to: back to this slug.
proposal to recast Reg 2019/452 (COM(2024) 23 final) — once adopted — will trigger a "far-reaching" amendment of the InvKG per BMAW and Austrian legal commentary. Watch for a follow-on novelle in 2026-27.
coalition has signalled an intention to expand the 10% voting-rights threshold to media and health-sector acquisitions. No bill tabled as at filing date; tracked in amendments: as and when introduced.
recast proposal is in trilogue as at May 2026; Austria has indicated it will await the recast before tabling a substantive InvKG amendment. Watch the BMAW programme page for the consultation draft.
10% threshold expansion proposal beyond the government-programme paragraph stage? Watch parlament.gv.at / BMAW for an XXVIII GP RV (regierungsvorlage) tabling the amendment.
publishes an annual transparency report; the most recent figures should be cross-referenced once the 2025 report is published (typically Q2 of the following year).
/ Verwaltungsgerichtshof InvKG decision overturning or upholding a BMAW prohibition as at filing date. Watch the RIS Justiz database for the first appeal precedent.