Greece Sets Up Interministerial Committee to Vet Foreign Investments for National Security

12:11 28/5/2025 - Πηγή: Dikaiologitika

Greece is introducing a powerful new screening mechanism for foreign direct investments, aimed at protecting national security and public order.

A proposal for the establishment and operation of the Interministerial Committee for the Screening of Foreign Direct Investments will be presented on Wednesday by Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis to

the Cabinet, in a session chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The move is part of the implementation of Greece’s new investment screening law, Law 5202/2025.

The committee will serve as a central authority responsible for evaluating whether foreign investments pose a threat to critical sectors of the Greek economy. Working closely with the Foreign Minister, it will assess transactions considered potentially sensitive in terms of national interest.

Oversight and coordination of the process will be handled by the B1 Directorate for Strategic Extroversion Planning within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will also be the primary contact point for foreign investors and relevant government agencies.

Under the new rules, investments will be reviewed before they are finalized—either following a request by the investor or through the state's own initiative. Particular attention will be paid to sectors of strategic importance, such as energy, transportation, healthcare, information technology, and digital infrastructure.

Any foreign acquisition exceeding a 25 percent stake in companies operating within these sectors will automatically trigger scrutiny. In highly sensitive areas—such as defense, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, port infrastructure, and tourism developments in border regions—a lower threshold of 10 percent ownership will apply.

The screening process is designed to be both efficient and thorough. Authorities will evaluate investment dossiers within five days of submission. The committee will then have thirty days to either approve the investment or initiate a more comprehensive investigation. Within an additional thirty days, the committee will issue a recommendation to the Foreign Minister, who will have up to sixty days to make a final decision. If no decision is reached within that time, the investment will be considered approved by default.

A feature of the new system is its provision for proactive oversight. The Greek state will have the authority to initiate reviews independently, even if the investor has not submitted a formal request. Moreover, the B1 Directorate will be granted access to all necessary data for its assessments, bypassing confidentiality restrictions—except in cases of protected legal privilege, such as attorney-client confidentiality.

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Greece Sets Up Interministerial Committee, Vet Foreign Investments,National Security