Growing Pains and Growing Power: The EU FSR Comes of Age

3 November 2026 - 9:00 AM

PwC Campus in Diegem - Culliganlaan 5, 1831 Diegem

Location

PwC Campus in Diegem - Culliganlaan 5, 1831 Diegem

Information

Following the remarkable success of its inaugural edition in October 2025, the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation Conference returns on 3 November 2026 at the PwC Campus in Diegem, Belgium.


As the EUFSR enters a decisive new phase – marked by the publication of the Commission's FSR Guidelines and the Impact Assessment Report of July 14th, 2026 – the Conference, entitled “Growing Pains and Growing Power: The EU FSR Comes of Age", will once again bring together leading policymakers, European Commission officials, industry leaders and top legal experts to assess the Regulation's evolving implementation and its growing impact on cross-border investments, M&A and public procurement across Europe. 


Conference key highlights


  • Lessons learned from EUFSR implementation and the outcomes of the Commission's Report of July 14;  
  • Practical implications of the new FSR Guidelines, including distortion assessments, balancing tests and call-in powers; 
  • Emerging challenges and opportunities for M&A transactions and public procurement; 
  • The interaction between the EUFSR, industrial policy, international trade and geopolitical developments; 
  • The role of national subsidies and/or mergers driven by industrial policy in tilting the global level playing field – with a focus on countries such as China and the Gulf States, including their State-Owned Enterprises, are active in those areas, and on potential impacts and links with the evolution of competition and competitiveness in the EU; 
  • The need for coordination and interaction between the FSR, FDI screening, merger control, trade law and State aid frameworks. 


Please note that this is an in-person event, and no hybrid attendance option will be available.

Agenda

  • 09:00 - 10:00 Registration and welcome coffee

  • 10:00 - 10:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks
  • Claudio Valz, Partner PwC Tax Italy
  • Daniela Cedola, Partner PwC Luxembourg, Government & Public Services, EU institutions Leader

  • 10:15 - 11:05 Panel 1 | Keynote Address and Fireside Chat: The EUFSR in the Broader Geopolitical Landscape
  • Antonio Nicita, Professor of Economic Policy LUMSA University (Palermo-Rome); Senator of the Italian Republic
  • Thomas Deisenhofer, Principal Adviser, DG Competition, European Commission
  • Claudio Valz, Tax Partner PwC TLS
  • Moderator: Francesca Micheletti, Senior Competition Correspondent Politico
  • Video message: Enrico Letta, EU Rapporteur on the Future of the Single Market, President of the Jacques Delors Institute, Former Prime Minister of Italy

  • 11:05 - 11:20 Coffee break

  • 11:20 - 12:10 Panel 2 | The EUFSR Review: Guidelines and Impact Assessment
  • Bonifacio Garcia Porras, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs (DG GROW) - Head of the "Foreign Subsidies" Unit European Commission
  • Iveta Stoyanova, International Relations Officer, DG Competition, European Commission
  • Jan Blockx, Associate Professor University of Antwerp Faculty of Law 
  • Peter Zalai, Director PwC Legal Hungary

  • 12:10 - 13:00 Panel 3 | EUFSR and M&A: FSR's interplay with M&A, FDI screening and industrial policy.
  • Lena Hornkohl, Assistant Professor University of Vienna, Department of European, International and Comparative Law
  • Hubert Klinger, Senior Legal Counsel Siemens Germany
  • Heiner Mecklenburg, Senior Manager PwC Legal Germany, Competition & Antitrust
  • Iveta Stoyanova, International Relations Officer, DG Competition, European Commission

  • 13:00 - 14:10 Lunch break

  • 14:10 - 15:00 Panel 4 | EUFSR and Public Procurement: Strategic Goals, Level Playing Field and Practical Challenges
  • Bonifacio Garcia Porras, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs (DG GROW) - Head of the "Foreign Subsidies" Unit European Commission
  • Vittorio Tommasone, Legal Counsel IBM Consulting Italy
  • Gerung Von Hoff, Partner PwC Germany, Competition Law & Antitrust
  • Luigi Nascimbene, Director PwC Legal Italy

  • 15:00 - 16.30 Panel 5 | Voices from Outside the EU: International Perspectives on the EUFSR
  • Marc Oliver Heim, PhD Researcher & Graduate Lecturer University College London Faculty of Laws
  • LinLin Liang, Director of Communication and Research China Chamber of Commerce to the EU 
  • Will Morris, Global Tax Policy Leader PwC US
  • Peter Xiang, Partner PwC Tax China
  • Moderator: Lewis Crofts, Editor-at-large Mlex  

  • 16.30 - 16:45 Closing Keynote Remarks

    • 09:00 - 10:00 Registration and welcome coffee

    • 10:00 - 10:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks
    • Claudio Valz, Partner PwC Tax Italy
    • Daniela Cedola, Partner PwC Luxembourg, Government & Public Services, EU institutions Leader

    • 10:15 - 11:05 Panel 1 | Keynote Address and Fireside Chat: The EUFSR in the Broader Geopolitical Landscape
    • Antonio Nicita, Professor of Economic Policy LUMSA University (Palermo-Rome); Senator of the Italian Republic
    • Thomas Deisenhofer, Principal Adviser, DG Competition, European Commission
    • Claudio Valz, Tax Partner PwC TLS
    • Moderator: Francesca Micheletti, Senior Competition Correspondent Politico
    • Video message: Enrico Letta, EU Rapporteur on the Future of the Single Market, President of the Jacques Delors Institute, Former Prime Minister of Italy

    • 11:05 - 11:20 Coffee break

    • 11:20 - 12:10 Panel 2 | The EUFSR Review: Guidelines and Impact Assessment
    • Bonifacio Garcia Porras, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs (DG GROW) - Head of the "Foreign Subsidies" Unit European Commission
    • Iveta Stoyanova, International Relations Officer, DG Competition, European Commission
    • Jan Blockx, Associate Professor University of Antwerp Faculty of Law 
    • Peter Zalai, Director PwC Legal Hungary

    • 12:10 - 13:00 Panel 3 | EUFSR and M&A: FSR's interplay with M&A, FDI screening and industrial policy.
    • Lena Hornkohl, Assistant Professor University of Vienna, Department of European, International and Comparative Law
    • Hubert Klinger, Senior Legal Counsel Siemens Germany
    • Heiner Mecklenburg, Senior Manager PwC Legal Germany, Competition & Antitrust
    • Iveta Stoyanova, International Relations Officer, DG Competition, European Commission

    • 13:00 - 14:10 Lunch break

    • 14:10 - 15:00 Panel 4 | EUFSR and Public Procurement: Strategic Goals, Level Playing Field and Practical Challenges
    • Bonifacio Garcia Porras, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs (DG GROW) - Head of the "Foreign Subsidies" Unit European Commission
    • Vittorio Tommasone, Legal Counsel IBM Consulting Italy
    • Gerung Von Hoff, Partner PwC Germany, Competition Law & Antitrust
    • Luigi Nascimbene, Director PwC Legal Italy

    • 15:00 - 16.30 Panel 5 | Voices from Outside the EU: International Perspectives on the EUFSR
    • Marc Oliver Heim, PhD Researcher & Graduate Lecturer University College London Faculty of Laws
    • LinLin Liang, Director of Communication and Research China Chamber of Commerce to the EU 
    • Will Morris, Global Tax Policy Leader PwC US
    • Peter Xiang, Partner PwC Tax China
    • Moderator: Lewis Crofts, Editor-at-large Mlex  

    • 16.30 - 16:45 Closing Keynote Remarks

Speakers

Contacts

Carolina Garitta

Communication, Engagement & Branding

carolina.garitta@pwc.com

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