Towards an EU Policy on Foreign Direct Investment

From the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon the common commercial policy extends to 'foreign direct investment' (Article 207(1) TFEU), and aims at the progressive abolition of restrictions on such investment (Article 206 TFEU). In the light of the exclusive nature of the EU's commercial policy competence (Article 3(1) TFEU), this constitutes one of the most important expansions of the EU's competences in the whole of the Lisbon Treaty. This chapter focuses on two main issues: the scope of the EU's new competence regarding foreign investment and some of the challenges facing the EU in shaping a common investment policy.