On 15 November 2011, the Austrian parliament approved an amendment to the regulations on foreign direct investment included in the foreign trade law ("Aussenhandelsgesetz").
 
Under the new regime, investors from non-EU/EFTA countries wanting to acquire more than 25 percent of an Austrian enterprise of "public interest" must seek permission from the Ministry of Economy.
 
According to the amendment, the "public interest" is concerned with the following industries:

• defense and security services
• hospital and rescue services
• fire and catastrophe services
• energy production
• water supply
• telecom
• railway
• universities

Update

In July 2020, the Foreign Trade Law ("Außenwirtschaftsgesetz") was amended by removing the FDI screening regime. The provisions governing the screening review ceased to be in force on 25 July 2020. 

At the same time, a new FDI screening regime, including a broader application scope, tighter controls in specific sectors, and references to the EU FDI Screening Regime Regulation, was introduced with the Investment Control Act ("Bundesgesetz über die Kontrolle von ausländischen Direktinvestitionen" or short "Investitionskontrollgesetz"). For more information, please see the related State Act.