A core change is the mandatory creation of national FDI screening mechanisms by every EU member state to close gaps that allowed invested assets to bypass screening, thereby strengthening EU-wide oversight over sensitive investments.

For cross-border transactions, filings in multiple Member States must be made on the same day and coordinated to align decision timetables, enhancing cooperation on M&A transactions.

Ex post control is strengthened: investments not previously authorised but later found to affect security or public order can be examined for 15 months to five years after completion; non-notified or late-notified investments can be reviewed for up to 24 months post-completion.

Investors receive enhanced procedural safeguards: transparent, non-discriminatory screening rules; access to effective judicial remedies; and the right to express views before adverse decisions or mitigated authorisations are imposed.

There is a mandatory minimum scope for prior authorisation covering strategic sectors such as dual-use items, military equipment, sensitive technologies (including semiconductors, quantum technologies, and certain AI), critical energy, transport, digital infrastructure, strategic raw materials, and systemically important financial entities, with electoral infrastructure explicitly included.

Romania already operates a national FDI screening mechanism (GEO No. 46/2022, amended; extended by GEO No. 17/2026) that aligns with many elements of the EU framework, including ex post review, potential mitigation measures, and a broader scope to asset deals; remaining alignment tasks involve completing sectoral scope, interoperation with EU digital systems, deadlines, and interaction with merger control.

The regulation introduces strengthened EU-level cooperation and procedural safeguards, including mandatory notifications to the Commission and other Member States for specified investments, standardized information requirements, and a secure European information-exchange system; an online Union filing portal can be created upon request by nine Member States.

Investments within the mandatory scope must be notified and reviewed before completion, with at least a two-phase national process; the initial review should be completed within 45 days after filing is deemed complete, followed by possible in-depth investigations.

The European Union has enacted Regulation (EU) 2026/1386 on the screening of foreign direct investments (FDI), repealing Regulation (EU) 2019/452 and establishing an EU-wide framework with an 18-month transitional period for member states to adapt their laws and procedures.

Overall, the article frames the Regulation as a major tightening and harmonization of FDI screening across the EU, with specific attention to sensitive sectors, electoral infrastructure, and cross-border coordination, while noting Romania's readiness and need for targeted legislative alignment.