Designing a Governance System for Cybersecurity of Foreign Investment in Europe

Abstract

The increased promotion of foreign investment in the digital economy - especially in countries that are actively pushing digitalization in their economy, like in the European region - , has brought questions on cybersecurity of foreign investment to the attention of (international) legal scholars and policy-makers. However, a comprehensive study on cybersecurity of foreign investment has not yet been undertaken and also at the EU level the regulation still appears quite fragmented.

This paper investigates whether – and to what extent – it is possible to frame a governance system for cybersecurity of foreign investment in Europe, with a special focus on the European Union (EU) institutional and regulatory framework.

The first part of the paper offers an introduction to the cybersecurity challenges of foreign investment at both the international and European level; then, it offers an overview of the (international, European and national) actors involved in the relevant governance system. The last part of the paper proposes some (preliminary) recommendations on how the EU foreign policy can (efficiently) handle the issues at hand.