Security Grounds Research Articles

Freedom of Expression's Crisis of Interpretation

ABSTRACT: Over the course of 2023, an epidemic of Koran burnings convulsed Denmark and Sweden. Denmark responded by criminalizing the practice on diplomatic and security grounds. This infuriated free-speech campaigners who saw the move as a betrayal of Scandinavia's historic commitment to freedom of expression. In the process, Denmark missed an opportunity to explore Koran burning as a problem for democracies and identify tools other than criminalization to address it. This essay places the Danish response to Koran burning in its domestic and international context, showing how it fits into a broader global crisis of interpretation concerning the human right to free speech.

Chinese Multinationals and Europe’s Geoeconomic Turn: The De‐Globalization of the Chinese ICT and Automotive Industry?

Amid increasing geopolitical tensions between Western powers and China over the alleged state-capitalist nature of Chinese corporate internationalization, European governments have introduced a set of political measures tightening their trade and investment regimes on grounds of national security and economic competitiveness. This article analyzes how this “geoeconomic turn” in Europe affected the internationalization of (state-backed) Chinese firms into Europe and hence the establishment of Sino-European corporate relations. With a focus on the Chinese ICT and automotive industries, we zoom in on corporate internationalization by distinguishing two modes: (a) outward foreign direct investments (greenfield investments and mergers and acquisitions) and (b) the formation of collaborative ties (strategic alliances and joint ventures) with European companies—a hitherto underexplored form of Sino-European corporate relations. Our analysis is predicated on a comprehensive dataset consolidating information on both modes of internationalization for the period 2000–2023. We show that, in relation to investment numbers, Chinese companies continue to expand into Europe, even if values are decreasing. We also find that the formation of collaborative ties (strategic alliances and joint ventures) has not halted but increased in the wake of Europe’s geoeconomic turn, indicating a further intensification of Sino-European corporate relations, though under the radar of tightening investment policies and mechanisms. When unpacking the variegated impact of the geoeconomic turn on Chinese companies’ internationalization strategies in Europe, our study also finds, however, that its ramifications vary substantively—not only per sector but also among companies exposed to varying degrees of party-state permeation. Applying a novel fine-grained measure to party-state permeation, the article shows that the geoeconomic turn seems to have affected predominantly those leading Chinese firms with a high party-state exposure.

Restrictions on Chinese SOE Investments for Data Security Reasons: The Case of Australia

In the digital age, the proliferation of investments made by Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has raised concerns among host countries about the risks that the investments could provide the Chinese government access to sensitive data involved in the target businesses, posing threats to their national security. Consequently, countries with sophisticated foreign investment screening (FIS) regimes, such as Australia, have imposed entry restrictions on Chinese SOE foreign direct investment (FDI) on the grounds of data security concerns. This article takes Australia as an example to investigate whether this concern has become a ‘panacea’ to justify any restrictions imposed by host states on Chinese SOE FDI in the digital age. Through in-depth examinations of Australia's reformed FIS regime and its application to Chinese SOE investments, this article demonstrates that data security has increasingly become a preferred justification for imposing restrictions on Chinese SOE investments. It argues that the data security justification is legitimate because of Chinese SOEs’ strong political ties, which have been significantly strengthened in China's ongoing SOE reforms, as well as China's prominent policy emphasis on data protection in recent years. However, measures should be taken to mitigate data security becoming a ‘minefield’ impeding the restoration of Australia–China investment relations.

The security of politicians: towards a research agenda

Abstract Members of Parliament (MPs) are increasingly experimenting with a variety of measures to protect their personal security. This trend is particularly evident at the local level, with MPs adjusting their constituency service on security grounds in ways that likely affect how they interact with constituents. Despite potentially significant representative implications, these enhanced security measures have yet to be problematized in detail. This article calls for a new research agenda to address this deficit. Exploring some of the anecdotal evidence, we highlight potential trade-offs arising from a more securitized constituency service experience, noting, in particular, costs pertaining to (1) accessibility, (2) symbolism, and (3) resources. We conclude by sketching out the broad parameters of a multi-method, multi-level, and multi-disciplinary research agenda on the security of politicians.

Foreign Investments and Energy Transition in the Netherlands

Affordability, competitiveness, security of supply, and sustainability are among the goals set for the field of the energy transition for 2030 through 2050. In order to meet these goals, the energy sector of the European Union (EU) will require a continuous inflow of capital, particularly Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Unfortunately, FDI has raised severe national security concerns in EU Member States, leading to the need to adopt and subsequently revisit the FDI screening framework on the EU level. On a domestic level, several EU Member States, such as the Netherlands, have either strengthened or are considering strengthening their screening mechanisms. States have been screening FDI on national security grounds for decades, but the scope of new mechanisms has dramatically expanded to cover more sectors, transactions, and types of investors. In particular, FDIs that affect energy infrastructure, supply of energy, raw materials, dual-use items, and critical technologies necessary for the energy transition should be subjected to more rigid scrutiny. These regulatory and policy developments might hinder the flow of investments into the energy sector and the advancement of new technologies and thus have implications for the prospects and speed of the energy transition in Europe. This Article will discuss the overarching question of how states can organize their investment screening mechanisms in a way that balances their national security interests against the need for free flow of FDI to stimulate development of technologies that accelerate the energy transition. This includes a case study of the FDI policy of the Netherlands, one of the major destinations of global FDI. This Article initially distills the principles necessary to balancing competing security and economic interests of host states in the investment law context. Based on such principles, it further examines the extent to which existing regulatory mechanisms in the Netherlands are adequate in addressing security concerns posed by FDI while continuing to attract investments in the energy sector and related technologies. Specifically, this Article aims to identify trends in investment screening in the Netherlands, reflect on their coherence with overarching EU investment policy objectives and the multilateral guidance on a good policy design, and discuss the potential implications of recent regulatory developments for the future of the energy transition in Europe. More broadly, this Article contextualizes the case of the Netherlands within the global movement of tightening control over FDI and explores the relationship between the investment policy of a State, on the one hand, and its objectives to combat climate change and safeguard energy security, on the other.

РОССИЙСКИЕ КОМПАНИИ В ГЛОБАЛЬНЫХ ЦЕПОЧКАХ ДОБАВЛЕННОЙ СТОИМОСТИ В УСЛОВИЯХ ПЕРЕХОДА К НОВОМУ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКОМУ УКЛАДУ

The article addresses world trade’s global trends related to the increasing role of technology under the transition to a new technological way. Meanwhile, technology-intensive segments of global value chains generate high value-added and play a strategic role in entering new markets today. This situation creates challenges and risks for Russian companies in the context of their participation in GVCs. The article notes the high degree of digital and technological dependence on foreign partners. The problem of the widening of the digital divide is analyzed. The article highlight the following key sources of external challenges facing national companies: the concentration of control over digital and technological GVCs in the hands of several market “giants”, as well as and the wide use of competition-distorting practices aimed to conquer the most profitable segments of the GVC. Western countries are increasingly resorting to such practices, including as part of their sanctions polic. In some cases, these countries justify their measures on national security grounds, “tailoring” them to respective exceptions to the rules of the World Trade Organization. The article also explores other tools used by Western countries with a view to legitimize the measures they take to “redivide” the high-tech market and/or maintain leading positions in it. Large-scale import-substituting subsidies for technological development are the example. Taking into account the identified challenges and threats, the article provides for possible directions for increasing the efficiency of participation of Russian companies in the GVCs and thus achieving the long-term task of strengthening the global competitiveness of the Russian economy.

Unrecognizing Refugees: The Inadmissibility Scheme Replacing Article 1F Decisions in Canada

Abstract This article examines the interwoven relationship between article 1F (the exclusion provision) of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the inadmissibility scheme based on the grounds of security, violation of human or international rights, serious criminality, or organized criminality (SHSO) in Canada. Incorporating evidence from a literature review, case law, statistics, and interviews conducted with practitioners in Canada, this research demonstrates that Canada deliberately chooses to review the cases of refugee claimants about whom there are serious reasons to consider that they have committed grave crimes under the inadmissibility scheme rather than under article 1F. Accordingly, the article argues that the exclusion provision in Canada, through practice and with an intentional design, has turned into the inadmissibility proceeding. This shift from the exclusion provision to the inadmissibility scheme is problematic since using the broader SHSO grounds instead of article 1F violates Canada’s international obligations under the Refugee Convention.

The WTO Condemns Trump’s Tariffs on Steel and Aluminium, but Biden Condemns the WTO

Recently World Trade Organization (WTO) panels declared the illegitimacy of the tariff increases imposed in 2018 by the US government, based on national security grounds, on imports of steel and aluminium products. This paper addresses some of the key legal issues raised in the four controversial panel decisions, leaving some final reflections on the future of multilateral trade system. Given the unsettled nature of the terrain, we firstly focus on the WTO rules that are relevant to the tariffs imposed by Trump in 2018, before dwelling on the complainants’ arguments and panels’ findings. Two indications or conclusion can be drawn from the paper. First, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXI doesn’t constitute a self-judging or non-justiciable provision, differently from what argued by the US Government. Second, the controversial reports will not resolve the ongoing conflict initiated by US against the WTO. In fact Biden, far from distancing himself from Trump’s measures, openly condemned the panel’s decisions through an official statement widely disseminated by the media. The practical significance of the recent condemnation of the US tariffs is even less evident when considering the persistent issue of the appointment of members to the WTO Appellate Body. If multilateralism continues to falter, the US may no longer be the only country winking at bilateralism, as evidenced by the recent rules adopted by the EU. Security Exceptions, Dispute Settlement Understanding, Antidumping Duties, WTO, international economics, European Union, GATT, escape clauses, multilateral trade system

Legitimisation of Foreign Direct Investment Screening Among Business Actors: The Danish Case

There has been a conspicuous shift in the European Union’s perception of economic interdependence and open markets, manifested in a mushrooming number of screening policies aimed at verifying foreign direct investments raising national security concerns. The introduction of these policies can be viewed as a market constraint that might negatively affect business operations, so it is puzzling that some European business actors did not actively resist their adoption, despite having wide lobbying opportunities in Europe. I explore this puzzle using the case of Denmark by drawing on theories of securitisation and preference formation under uncertainty. I argue that business actors established their policy preferences in the context of uncertainty and the gradual increase in security framing by the European and local political elites. Exposed to these increasing security discourses across different levels and networks, businesses adjusted their policy preferences, balancing between different identities. The flexibility inherent in a multilevel and evolving securitisation process led to the legitimisation of investment screening policies among interest groups and mitigated their resistance to the imposition of market constraints on security grounds.

Security, digital border technologies, and immigration admissions: Challenges of and to non-discrimination, liberty and equality

Normative debates on migration control, while characterised by profound disagreement, do appear to agree that the state has at least a prima facie right to prevent the entry of security threats. While concern is sometimes raised that this ‘security exception’ can be abused, there has been little focus by normative theorists on concrete practices of security, and how we can determine what a ‘principled’ use of the security exception would be. I argue that even if states have a right to prevent migrants from entering on grounds of security, the practices required to implement this right will likely compromise core liberal democratic values in ways that have not been sufficiently appreciated. I draw on literature from Science and Technology Studies and Critical Security Studies to examine the proliferation of digital border control technologies which are increasingly dominating state security practices, and explain the challenges these technologies pose to non-discrimination, liberty and equality. I also highlight the difficulties of taking these principles as presumptive limitations on the operation of the security exception. A more sustained conversation among ethical theorists is needed to address the profound ethical challenges that the ever-increasing use of these technologies poses, particularly in pursuit of security.

Citizenship Deprivation in the Courts: Unveiling States’ Constitutional Structures

Citizenship deprivation on security grounds – Difference in state practices – Underlying citizenship regimes and states’ constitutional structures – Constitutional roles attributed to the citizen – Judicial decisions on citizenship deprivation – Comparison with a focus on France and the United Kingdom

Foreign Direct Investment Screening in the EU – Future Perspectives and Implied Obligations

Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union establishes a framework for the screening by Member States of foreign direct investments into the Union on the grounds of security or public order. In addition, it introduces two separate cooperation mechanisms, depending on whether the foreign direct investment is undergoing screening. Although it largely provides for non-controversial procedural requirements (relating to transparency, non-discrimination, relevant time frames, coordination, confidentiality, assistance and mutual communication), Regulation 2019/452 also contains specific implied obligations, which may prove to be especially burdensome for the Member States which have no foreign direct investment screening legislation. Regulation 2019/452 does not expressly oblige Member States to adopt a foreign direct investment screening mechanism. Nevertheless, the Commission’s activities and communications seem to suggest that the ultimate goal sought to be achieved is to have all Member States introduce national foreign direct investment legislation in the foreseeable future.

The Prisoner’s Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion in the European System of Human Rights Protection

The article aims to present the prisoner’s right to the freedom of conscience and religion in the European system of human rights. A detainee is a subject of special human rights because he or she is deprived of the right to liberty. Public authorities are obliged to strictly observe the law related to the sphere of convicts and their views. The right of people deprived of liberty is to exercise their free thought, conscience and religion. No one should be subjected to coercion which would limit their freedom of religion, except as stipulated by the legislator. Public authorities are obliged to provide prisoners with the opportunity to participate in religious events, to contact a priest, to manifest religious beliefs and to be administered medical care. Discipline and security issues may justify the imposition of restrictions of liberty on the grounds of security and public order. Taking advantage of religious freedom must not violate the principles of tolerance or disrupt the established order in prison.

Article: Report on the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening

On 1–3 June 2022, the Common European Law on Investment Screening (CELIS) Institute organized its fourth annual conference ‘2022 CELIS Forum on Investment Screening’ (CFIS22). The Conference was held in Sweden, at Uppsala University. The CELIS Institute is an independent non-profit, non-partisan research enterprise dedicated to promoting better regulation of foreign investments in the context of security, public order, and competitiveness. It was set up in 2020 by Steffen Hindelang and J. Hillebrand Pohl, the convenors of this year’s conference, as a permanent successor to the ‘International Conference on a Common European Law on Investment Screening (CELIS)’, convened by Professor Hindelang and Andreas Moberg in 2019. The aim of CFIS 22 was to debate European investment screening on national security grounds from a strategic perspective on the theme ‘The Emerging Law of Investment Control in Europe: Screening, Sanctions and Subsidies’. CFIS was a major event which brought together, not just leading academic scholars, EU officials, national experts, diplomats, and policymakers, but also business leaders, think tankers, and representatives of the investment community and civil society, as well as the media from across Europe and beyond. The three-day event was generously funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the Swedish Institute of International Law, Datenna, Blomstein, and the Institute for Democracy Societas investment screening, foreign investments, CELIS, FDI, ESG, national security, public order, sovereign-driven investment.

عدم طرد اللاجئ في القانون الدولي

Abstract The principle of non-refoulement is considered one of the basic principles in the international refugee law, as it protects the refugees from falling at the hands of the authorities persecuting them. The rights that the refugees enjoy according to the international conventions is considered as obligations over the refugees’ host State. The most important of which are: Right to protection against refoulement and constraining the host State’s authority regarding the expulsion of the refugee. The international refugee law rejects the expulsion of the refugee. Also, the principle of Non Refoulement is well entrenched in customary international law; it is binding for contracting and non-contracting states. In addition, he Contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public order. Articles (32) and (33) of the 1951 refugee convention are the core of international refugee protection. Keywords: Refoulement of Refugee, Host State, the 1951 refugee convention.

An Eco-Driving Approach With Flow Uncertainty Tolerance for Connected Vehicles Against Waiting Queue Dynamics on Arterial Roads

Eco-driving incorporating multiple signalized intersections simultaneously has been proven to substantially benefit connected vehicles (CVs) in energy performance. However, ignoring the dynamic variation of waiting queues before downstream intersections may prevent CVs from following the obtained speed profile on security grounds. In this article, the dynamic variation of the waiting queue is modeled and predicted based on shockwave theory and data-driven-based traffic flow prediction. To formulate the waiting queues as additional time-varying constraints for optimization problems, an extended traffic signal model is constructed based on the prediction. Furthermore, a hierarchical optimization framework is proposed, under which the hybrid optimization problem is decomposed into a discrete problem and a continuous one. Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that if the proposed eco-driving approach is implemented, failure to follow the reference speed profile decreases by 79.4%. Also, the fuel consumption can be saved by over 4% compared with approaches ignoring the waiting queue.

Fitting national interests with populist opportunities: intervention politics on the European radical right

As European radical right parties grow in influence, and as foreign and security policy becomes more politicised, these parties have increasing potential to shape national debates on international affairs. This paper shows how radical right opposition parties seek to exploit policy dilemmas surrounding military intervention according to the nature of the political opportunity these dilemmas present in specific national settings. Its findings are based on qualitative comparative case studies of Front National, AfD and UKIP responses to intervention debates surrounding the Syrian civil war in France, Germany and the UK. I find that non-intervention is not an absolute value for radical right parties. Whilst liberal-humanitarian interventions are uniformly rejected, interventions on national security grounds, whether to combat Jihadist threats or prevent uncontrolled migration, prompt a range of responses shaped by the domestic political context. Yet even where these parties back intervention in votes, their discourse focuses on fitting the issue to the populist dimensions of their political agenda, especially attacking mainstream rivals for incompetence, duplicity or incoherence, and failing to protect the sovereignty and ethnic integrity of the nation.

Incoming: How International Investment Law Constrains Foreign Investment Screening

Abstract Domestic screening of foreign investment, often on national security grounds, has intensified in recent years. More countries are introducing such regimes, while others expand their scope or allow retrospective screening. These developments increase the potential for investor–State claims under international investment agreements, even sometimes regarding investments that are not yet established. Host States need to be aware of the potential for adverse screening decisions, the imposition of conditions, or due process shortcomings to conflict with investment obligations, such as fair and equitable treatment or most-favoured nation treatment. Although tools exist in some treaties to exclude or exempt investment screening, these may not prevent a successful investment claim. For example, listing a screening regime as a non-conforming measure may not cover all future amendments, and general and security exceptions are subject to considerable uncertainty. Host States need to ensure compliance with international investment law in creating and developing screening regimes.

Analysing the drivers of the efficiency of households in electricity consumption

Households play a very relevant role in energy demand in general and electricity demand in particular. Although electricity is an essential product in our daily life, reductions of electricity demand have generally been defended on environmental and energy security grounds. The aim of this paper is to analyse the level and the drivers of efficiency in household electricity consumption using an estimator for endogenous stochastic frontiers. A panel of data is built for this purpose, using statistical matching techniques with seven waves of the Spanish Household Budget Survey (SHBS) from 2006 to 2012. Several economic and non-economic variables are considered, including income, household features and characteristics of the dwelling. Our findings suggest that the level of electricity efficiency is already relatively high for households in all income levels. The results also reveal that there is a negative relation between income and efficiency in electricity consumption, i.e., that the lowest income households are also the most efficient. Furthermore, one feature of dwellings (the number of rooms) and two features of households (their size and the educational level) are relevant drivers of household efficiency in electricity consumption. Whereas the educational level and household size negatively affect electricity efficiency, the number of rooms positively influences efficiency. Our findings suggest that general price-based measures which drive the adoption of electricity efficient technologies and behaviors should be complemented with two types of policy interventions: policies which encourage households to be more efficient (i.e., information provision and financial support for the adoption of electricity-efficient practices) and measures specifically targeted at low-income households which mitigate the comparatively greater distributional impact of price increases on this household segment.

A Threat to National Security? The Legal Dispute between ‘Red Rudi’ and the British Home Office, 1970–1971

Initially admitted to the United Kingdom on a short-term visa, the disabled German student activist Rudi Dutschke applied for a student visa in the United Kingdom in 1970. His application was rejected on grounds of national security. Dutschke was one of the first aliens who made use of his right to appeal, but the closed material procedure applied in his case meant that critical evidence remained undisclosed. Far from being ‘simply a historical curiosity’, the Dutschke case powerfully illustrates how two social dynamics at the centre of the moral panic in the late 1960s – immigration and student protest – were linked and framed as a threat to the nation.