The Green party believes that the federal government must adopt significantly stricter vetting processes for acquisitions of companies deemed important for national security or strategically critical when the investors are foreign. This stance is outlined in a draft resolution that the party plans to introduce in the Bundestag this week. According to the paper, which was reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, “national security is at stake like never before”. The Greens argue that instead of learning from the damaging reliance on Russian gas, Germany is knowingly heading toward a new, asymmetrical dependency. Among the concerns voiced are investments originating from sources aligned with the “America-First interests” of US President Donald Trump.
The discussion is prompted by the case of Tanquid, a Duisburg-based company that manages nearly a fifth of all oil and petrochemical storage facilities in Germany. Earlier this year, Tanquid was acquired by the Texas corporation Sunoco, leading the process, and notably an admirer and financial supporter of Trump. Although the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs granted approval and required Tanquid to separate from its subsidiary FBG-which supplies kerosene to NATO air bases in Germany among other things-Green MP Michael Kellner, the party’s energy policy spokesperson, stated that the incident illustrated the government’s continued carelessness regarding the nation’s critical infrastructure. He called the sale of Tanquid to Sunoco a “strategic risk” during a time when energy imports were utilized as geopolitical weapons.
From a Green party perspective, the investment review procedure needs fundamental reforms, not only for energy infrastructure but also for sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. The draft resolution asserts that authorities require “sharper tools to prevent critical dependencies without sacrificing general openness to investment”. It is deemed essential to keep key technological areas and all relevant parts of the critical infrastructure “in European hands to proactively protect security interests, rather than merely engaging in reactive crisis management”.
Specifically, Kellner and his colleagues demand a rule that prevents third-country investors from bypassing national review mechanisms merely by utilizing subsidiaries within the EU. Furthermore, the review must no longer focus solely on the percentage of nominal voting rights but must assess all significant avenues of influence that the potential buyer possesses. Additionally, in the area of critical infrastructure, the question of supply security must take precedence over the principle of free foreign trade.
