The EU Parliament and Council see the entry into force of their new Foreign Subsidies Regulation which protects the distortion of competition within the internal market

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) entered into force on 12 January 2023. It represents a massive expansion in the European Commission’s power to investigate inward investment to the EU. This new regulation—the first of its kind in the world—attempts to assert control over subsidies granted by non-EU countries. The FSR is driven by anxiety that foreign governments are subsidising their industries to the detriment of EU companies. Originally motivated by Chinese competition, this issue has become very prominent in the last six months as energy costs have increased sharply and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act has introduced large subsidies for domestic U.S. production. The EU is also responding by increasing the subsidies it is prepared to permit, but it is difficult to take this