Loading…
Loading…
The Act creates a single, cross-sector ex-ante screening regime operated by ISP — the existing export-control authority for military equipment and dual-use goods — repurposed under §3 as "granskningsmyndighet" for inbound FDI as well. The structure has four pillars:
1. Mandatory notification of all qualifying investments. An investment is notifiable if it (i) is direct or indirect, (ii) gives the investor at least 10% of the voting rights (with additional thresholds at 20/30/50/65/90% triggering re- notification), and (iii) is in a Swedish company carrying out "skyddsvärd verksamhet" (protected business activity). Unlike many other EU regimes, the Swedish Act applies to both EU and non-EU investors — a deliberate widening relative to EU Regulation 2019/452, which only requires screening of non-EU FDI. 2. Seven-category perimeter of "skyddsvärd verksamhet." Defined by Förordning (2023:624) and supplementary ISP listing: (i) essential services (samhällsviktig verksamhet) — energy, electronic communications, financial services, healthcare, transport, water; (ii) security-sensitive activities under the Protective Security Act (säkerhetsskyddslagen); (iii) prospecting, extraction, enrichment or sale of critical raw materials, metals, or minerals — directly relevant to LKAB iron ore, Boliden zinc/copper, the Per Geijer REE deposit; (iv) processing of sensitive personal data or location data; (v) production of military equipment under the Military Equipment Act; (vi) production of dual-use goods under EU Reg 2021/821; (vii) research, development or production of emerging or strategically protected technologies (AI, quantum, advanced semiconductors, biotech, energy storage). 3. Voidness sanction. A transaction implemented without ISP approval is null and void as a matter of Swedish law — the strongest civil-law sanction in any EU member state's FDI regime. 4. Administrative fines. Up to SEK 100 million (~EUR 9 million) for failure to notify, providing misleading information, or acting in contravention of an ISP decision; minimum SEK 25,000.
The Government, on ISP's recommendation, decides whether to (a) approve, (b) approve with conditions, or (c) prohibit a transaction that has been escalated to "fördjupad granskning" (deeper screening).
notifications in the first ~12 months (1 Dec 2023 – 29 Nov 2024), versus an originally projected ~300/year. ~83% cleared in Phase 1. The high volume reflects the EU-inclusive scope and the breadth of the "essential services" category.
regimes (DE AWG, FR Décret 2014-479, IT Golden Power, NL Wet Vifo, ES RD 571/2023, CZ Act 34/2021, FI Act 172/2012) screen only non-EU investors. Sweden's choice to include intra-EU FDI is structurally peer to Italy's Golden Power and Denmark's Investeringsscreeningsloven, and creates deal-clearance friction for Nordic and other EU buyers of Swedish industrial assets.
prospecting, extraction, enrichment and sale of CRM, metals and minerals listed in EU Reg 2024/1252 (Critical Raw Materials Act). Combined with Sweden's 2026 repeal of the uranium-mining moratorium (already filed) and the Per Geijer REE discovery, this makes the SE FDI regime a key gate on European REE-mining consolidation.
procurement-tier suppliers, and Ericsson's national-security 5G perimeter are squarely in (v)/(ii); cross-border M&A in these segments has paused materially since entry into force.
blocked transaction in ISP's first-year stats has not been publicly identified).
300%-of-forecast volume without lengthening clearance timelines.
2024/...) that is expected to harmonise screening triggers across member states from 2026 onward — likely amendments hook for this action.
courts before EU harmonisation moots it.