France to tighten controls on foreign investment in local companies

According to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, the sectors covered will be expanded to include companies involved in the extraction and processing of critical raw materials. Control will also be extended to French subsidiaries of foreign firms.

“The potential for leveraging our technology and know-how has never been greater,” Le Maire told business leaders on Thursday during a visit to the Haute-Savoie region in southeastern France.

France plans to maintain the 10% threshold, lowered from the 25% threshold at which control over non-European entities that acquire stakes in strategic companies takes effect, Le Maire said.

According to him, 325 dossiers were reviewed in 2022 compared to 137 in 2017.

Member states of the European Union are trying to secure access to resources that are critical to the transition to clean energy and digital technologies, such as the lithium needed for electric vehicle batteries. The bloc also wants to reduce its reliance on a handful of suppliers, including China.