We’re happy to share that Goodwin’s Antitrust team, led by partner Stephen Mavroghenis and associates Hyunseok Doh and Christina Kolotourou, has contributed to the European Commission’s public consultation on the draft guidelines on the application of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR).
The consultation provides an important opportunity for stakeholders to engage with the Commission on the interpretation and implementation of the FSR, which has been applicable since July 12, 2023, and establishes a novel framework to address distortions in the EU internal market arising from financial contributions granted by non-EU governments. The Draft Guidelines, published on July 18, 2025, provide valuable clarification on key concepts and procedural mechanisms. However, certain provisions raise questions regarding legal certainty, proportionality, and alignment with existing EU State aid, competition, and merger control regimes.
Our submission focuses on two principal issues. First, it addresses the legal uncertainty inherent in the Draft Guidelines, notably the standard for establishing a distortion in the internal market, the criteria for assessing cross-subsidisation, the scope and methodology of the Article 6 balancing test, and the Commission’s discretion to review below-threshold cases under Articles 21(5) and 29(8) of the FSR. Second, it examines the practical challenges that the FSR presents for private equity investors, in particular the need for clearer guidance on the exemption from reporting fund-level foreign financial contributions (“FFCs”) and how that exemption applies in practice.
View the full response: “Goodwin Procter’s Submission in Response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the Draft Guidelines on the Application of Foreign Subsidies Regulation.”