On 30 July 2025, the French Treasury (Direction générale du Trésor) within the Ministry in charge of the economy issued the 2024 annual report on France’s FDI regime, as well as the long awaited updated guidelines for foreign investment.
We look at the key takeaways from this report and the changes introduced with the updated guidelines.
2024 annual report - Key takeaways
France’s latest FDI report provides comprehensive insights into trends, statistics, and regulatory focus areas identified over the past year. Some key points of note include:
- Boost in the number of filings. The French Treasury continued to receive a significant number of filings in 2024, demonstrating a notable increase in interest from foreign investors in French assets. In 2024, nearly 400 applications were submitted (compared to 309 in 2023). The Ministry in charge of economy deemed approximately half of the applications eligible for the French FDI regime (182 applications). 54% of authorisation decisions were subject to conditions (99 authorisations).
For the first time, the annual report discloses that 6 operations were rejected over the last 3 years.
- Respect for procedural deadlines. Despite the increased volume of filings, the annual report specifies that decisions to grant authorisation with conditions were issued on average 19 working days before the end of the standard 75-working-day review period, and on average 20 working days for companies in insolvency proceedings (in 2024, 17 decisions concerned companies in financial difficulties compared to 9 in 2023).
- Increase in the decisions to revise conditions. 2024 saw an increase in requests for revisions of the conditions. 8 requests were submitted, 7 of which were accepted by the Ministry in charge of economy. The report provides examples of situations that may justify this option, such as the reorganisation of the investor's group leading to the integration of the French entity into a new branch of the group's activities.
Update of the French FDI guidelines
The FDI guidelines are a key tool for interpreting the French FDI rules and help to enhance transparency and predictability. The French Treasury has now updated these guidelines from the earlier 2022 version, introducing the following key changes:
- Incorporation of the latest regulatory developments affecting the FDI regime. As a reminder, these changes were first announced in August 2023 (see our blog post) and aim in particular to extend the scope of application by (i) including the acquisition of control of French branches (succursales) of foreign companies, (ii) clarifying the prior notification procedure when the 10% threshold of voting rights of a listed company is exceeded, and (iii) including the extraction and processing of critical raw materials, as set by the Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of the European Parliament, in sensitive activities and updating the list of critical technologies.
- Clarification and specification of the rules applying to the French FDI regime, in particular the harmonisation with the EU cooperation rules. The guidelines also provide details on procedural rules and investigation deadlines, including information on the investigation procedure if the French entity is subject to insolvency proceedings.
- Clarification of the information required from investment funds on subscriber identity. The guidelines further indicate that the identity of all subscribers participating in an investment fund can be requested at any time although such level of information is regularly not required.
- Specifying that the acquisition of control of a company registered in the commercial register (registre de commerce et des sociétés) may be subject to control. However, the acquisition of control of a company registered only in the national business register (registre national des entreprises) does not fall within the scope of the French FDI regime.
- Specifying the cases in which the 10% or 25% threshold of voting rights constituting an investment transaction is indirectly exceeded. A foreign investor acquiring control of a target entity that directly or indirectly holds more than 10% or 25% of the voting rights of a French subsidiary is deemed to have indirectly crossed the threshold in that French subsidiary. In addition, a foreign investor crossing the 10% or 25% voting rights threshold in a target entity is also deemed to indirectly cross the threshold in the French subsidiaries controlled by that entity.
- Clarification on joint control. The concept of joint control is clarified by reference to the existence of veto rights over strategic decisions of the company, reflecting French case law.
- Recommended inclusion of the description of activities. The Ministry renews its recommendation on including a detailed and precise description of the activities carried out. Investors should be aware of this requirement to ensure timely review of their filing.
- Requirement for confidentiality. Finally, the guidelines specify that exchanges between Member States and the Commission under the EU screening mechanism are confidential.
Notably, the guidelines do not provide a notification threshold for renewables projects.
Key takeaways for investors
The publication of the 2024 annual report and the updated guidelines marks a significant step in the ongoing development of France’s FDI regime. The annual report reflects sustained interest from foreign investors despite strengthening scrutiny, while the revised guidelines introduce greater clarity and respond to recent legislative and regulatory developments. Collectively, these materials underscore the French authorities’ commitment to maintaining a robust, transparent, and responsive FDI regime. Foreign investors should take close note of the evolving thresholds, procedural expectations, and substantive requirements to ensure timely, compliant transactions as the landscape continues to develop.
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