Abstract

The essay provides a quick overview of the legal transition occurred in the major European States from «golden share» to «golden power» provisions in order to protect national strategic interests in the economic field; closer considerations are then dedicated to a recent proposal for an Eu regulation on foreign investment control, as well as to some elements of Italian law on strategic public investments and mergers control. Final thoughts are developed in the light of contributions from contemporary strategic thinking and studies on economic intelligence, pointing at the existence of geo-economic contests in a context of economic wars.