Sweden's Negative List - An Examination of the Protection-Worthy Activities Covered by the Swedish FDI Act
(2025) JURM02 20251Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis of the concept of protection-worthy activities under the FDI Act. The main research question is, consequently, what constitutes protection-worthy activities under the FDI Act. This question is addressed by examining the areas covered by the term and by comparing it to similar concepts in the EU framework and the FDI screening regimes of Denmark and Finland. In doing so, the thesis also analyzes interpretative challenges, including those related to the confidentiality of the screening process, as well as legal ambiguities.
This thesis applies the legal dogmatic method, complemented by a functional method for the comparative analysis. It is based on Swedish laws, ordinances,... (More) - The purpose of this thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis of the concept of protection-worthy activities under the FDI Act. The main research question is, consequently, what constitutes protection-worthy activities under the FDI Act. This question is addressed by examining the areas covered by the term and by comparing it to similar concepts in the EU framework and the FDI screening regimes of Denmark and Finland. In doing so, the thesis also analyzes interpretative challenges, including those related to the confidentiality of the screening process, as well as legal ambiguities.
This thesis applies the legal dogmatic method, complemented by a functional method for the comparative analysis. It is based on Swedish laws, ordinances, and agency regulations, along with corresponding legislation from Denmark and Finland. The analysis also draws on EU primary law, regulations, directives, and CJEU case law. Preparatory works, legal scholarship, and agency commentaries have served as interpretative sources. News articles have been used to illustrate practical implications.
Protection-worthy activities are divided into seven categories under the FDI Act. These include essential services, security-sensitive activities, critical raw materials, sensitive personal or location data, military equipment, dual-use items, and emerging or other strategically important technologies. Among these, essential services is both the broadest category and the one marked by the greatest legal ambiguity. Due to the confidentiality grounds applicable to the screening process, such ambiguities are unlikely to be clarified through case law.
The EU’s FDI Screening Regulation’s examples of activities that FDIs may impact in ways relevant to security or public order, and thus be subject to screening, generally overlap with the categories of protection-worthy activities under Swedish law, even though the Regulation uses different terminology than the FDI Act. However, this overlap does little to clarify the scope of the Swedish Act, since the EU examples are non-exhaustive, lack definitions, and the only CJEU case law addresses the investor’s characteristics rather than the activity involved.
The FDI Act and its Danish and Finnish counterparts share some commonalities but are shaped by different legislative choices. While Denmark’s Investment Screening Act adopts more of the EU Regulation’s terminology than the FDI Act, its substantive coverage closely resembles that of the Swedish framework. Finland’s Monitoring Act, by contrast, applies only to defense industry companies and companies that produce or supply critical products or services related to the statutory duties of Finnish authorities essential to the security of society. As a result, it covers a narrower range of activities than the legislation in Sweden and Denmark. (Less)
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http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9189305
- author
- Klintö, Hannes LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- EU law, administrative law, comparative law
- language
- English
- id
- 9189305
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-16 15:53:41
- date last changed
- 2025-06-16 15:53:41
@misc{9189305,
abstract = {{The purpose of this thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis of the concept of protection-worthy activities under the FDI Act. The main research question is, consequently, what constitutes protection-worthy activities under the FDI Act. This question is addressed by examining the areas covered by the term and by comparing it to similar concepts in the EU framework and the FDI screening regimes of Denmark and Finland. In doing so, the thesis also analyzes interpretative challenges, including those related to the confidentiality of the screening process, as well as legal ambiguities.
This thesis applies the legal dogmatic method, complemented by a functional method for the comparative analysis. It is based on Swedish laws, ordinances, and agency regulations, along with corresponding legislation from Denmark and Finland. The analysis also draws on EU primary law, regulations, directives, and CJEU case law. Preparatory works, legal scholarship, and agency commentaries have served as interpretative sources. News articles have been used to illustrate practical implications.
Protection-worthy activities are divided into seven categories under the FDI Act. These include essential services, security-sensitive activities, critical raw materials, sensitive personal or location data, military equipment, dual-use items, and emerging or other strategically important technologies. Among these, essential services is both the broadest category and the one marked by the greatest legal ambiguity. Due to the confidentiality grounds applicable to the screening process, such ambiguities are unlikely to be clarified through case law.
The EU’s FDI Screening Regulation’s examples of activities that FDIs may impact in ways relevant to security or public order, and thus be subject to screening, generally overlap with the categories of protection-worthy activities under Swedish law, even though the Regulation uses different terminology than the FDI Act. However, this overlap does little to clarify the scope of the Swedish Act, since the EU examples are non-exhaustive, lack definitions, and the only CJEU case law addresses the investor’s characteristics rather than the activity involved.
The FDI Act and its Danish and Finnish counterparts share some commonalities but are shaped by different legislative choices. While Denmark’s Investment Screening Act adopts more of the EU Regulation’s terminology than the FDI Act, its substantive coverage closely resembles that of the Swedish framework. Finland’s Monitoring Act, by contrast, applies only to defense industry companies and companies that produce or supply critical products or services related to the statutory duties of Finnish authorities essential to the security of society. As a result, it covers a narrower range of activities than the legislation in Sweden and Denmark.}},
author = {{Klintö, Hannes}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Sweden's Negative List - An Examination of the Protection-Worthy Activities Covered by the Swedish FDI Act}},
year = {{2025}},
}