Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Cases
- List of Legislation
- List of Abbreviations
- The Changing Course of FDI: An Introduction
- Part I FDI and National Security: The Playing Field
- Part II The Traditional Approach: Ex Post Control
- Part III Towards Ex Ante Control: The Evolving Position
- Part IV Ex Ante Evaluation on National Security Grounds in Practice
- Chapter 8 United States: The Paradigm of Review on National Security Grounds
- Chapter 9 People's Republic of China: Designing a Unique Model of Evaluation on National Security Grounds
- Chapter 10 Canada: A Dual System of Evaluation
- Chapter 11 Australia: The ‘National Interest’ Test
- Chapter 12 European Union: From Current Plurality to a Common Future
- Chapter 13 United Kingdom: A Model Linked to Competition Law
- A Look to the Future
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Chapter 13 - United Kingdom: A Model Linked to Competition Law
from Part IV - Ex Ante Evaluation on National Security Grounds in Practice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2018
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Cases
- List of Legislation
- List of Abbreviations
- The Changing Course of FDI: An Introduction
- Part I FDI and National Security: The Playing Field
- Part II The Traditional Approach: Ex Post Control
- Part III Towards Ex Ante Control: The Evolving Position
- Part IV Ex Ante Evaluation on National Security Grounds in Practice
- Chapter 8 United States: The Paradigm of Review on National Security Grounds
- Chapter 9 People's Republic of China: Designing a Unique Model of Evaluation on National Security Grounds
- Chapter 10 Canada: A Dual System of Evaluation
- Chapter 11 Australia: The ‘National Interest’ Test
- Chapter 12 European Union: From Current Plurality to a Common Future
- Chapter 13 United Kingdom: A Model Linked to Competition Law
- A Look to the Future
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Summary
GENERAL OPENNESS TO FDI
The UK has traditionally maintained a very open attitude to trade and investment. The general atmosphere towards FDI in the UK is very flexible and no differentiation between domestic and foreign investment is currently made. The UK is the tenth largest destination for inwards FDI flows. In 2014, the UK accounted for 20% of all FDI to the EU, with an 11% increase in comparison to 2013. These remarkable figures increased even further in 2015, with 1,065 FDI projects and over 42,000 jobs created by them. Most of this FDI has been channelled through M&A operations; both the number and individual value of operations implemented has increased steadily in recent years.
No specific system of evaluation of FDI on national security grounds yet exists in the UK; nevertheless, the government has the power under several Acts to block specific transactions that are considered to run counter to the national interest. Usually, as happens in many other countries, the areas of technology, infrastructure and natural resources are specifically monitored.
However, this situation seems likely to change in the near future, not only because of Brexit but also because of the growing concern in the UK about FDI in certain critical areas of the economy. In this respect, after the approval of the Hinkley Point C nuclear project in September 2016, the British government announced two important decisions on FDI.
Firstly, referring to future nuclear build projects, the British government will take a special share in all of them to prevent significant stakes being sold without the government's knowledge or consent. Additionally, in order ‘to protect national security’, developers or operators of nuclear sites will be required to inform the Office for Nuclear Regulation of any change of ownership or partownership. This will allow the government to advise or direct the Office to take action to protect national security as a result of a change in ownership. 2564
Secondly, the government plans to reform the approach to the ownership and control of critical infrastructures to ensure that the potential implications of foreign ownership for national security are scrutinised.
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- Information
- Foreign Investment, Strategic Assets and National Security , pp. 435 - 448Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2018