Effective since the second half of 2023, the European Union’s foreign subsidies regulation is in full swing by the first half of 2024, with notification numbers quickly increasing – the speed and scale of its development are likely to the surprise of many businesses and national regulators of EU’s trading partners.
 
In a perhaps unexpected and unprecedented way, the FSR brings the traditionally separate disciplines and sometimes philosophically contradicting trade and competition policies together.
 
This started off with EU’s move to impose countervailing duty on imports subsidised by third country foreign subsidies (instead of the government of the exporting country), the FSR represents EU’s newest tools in its trade policy toolbox, designed to address the effect of non-EU subsidies which are perceived as distortive to the EU market, yet not subject to the EU’s own State Aid Regulations, which bind the subsidisation of EU members.
 
The panel will discuss the fast-rising number of high-profile cases under FSR in 2024 so far, the lessons learned, and both the potential legal issues arising from the FSR – from the perspectives of competition law, trade compliance and risk management.
 
A critical point of discussion will be the compatibility of the FSR with international trade rules under WTO Agreements. There could be concerns that the FSR could be incompatible with WTO rules by exceeding the European Commission's jurisdiction, especially due to discussions on selective enforcement, in-depth probes and even dawn raids.
 
Is FSR what it claims to be (the dominant number of China related projects subject to FSR investigations may raise some valid questions)? How does FSR fit with or differ from other competition regulation? How and whether FSR fits in with existing international trade rules, especially under the WTO Agreements?
 
This session is a must attend for trade, competition, and commercial transactions lawyers alike.