Saudi wealth fund warns EU rules are deterring Gulf investment

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is warning that European regulations are making it harder for Gulf investors to commit capital to the bloc, even as the sovereign wealth fund says it still plans to add more than €10.4 billion in Europe by 2030.

Yasir al-Rumayyan, the fund’s governor, raised the issue at a Rome summit on June 18, saying EU regulatory challenges are “really hurting” investors such as PIF, Saudi Aramco and Sabic. He said the rules are not only affecting new investments, but also making it harder to keep existing investments in Europe.

A fresh investment pledge

The criticism came alongside a renewed commitment to the region. PIF said it still intends to invest more than €10.4 billion in Europe by 2030, even as Saudi Arabia increasingly channels capital toward domestic megaprojects.

That combination gives the remarks extra weight: the fund is publicly pressing Brussels on investment barriers while reaffirming that Europe remains part of its long-term strategy.

The Financial Times reported that PIF said it had invested €98 billion in the EU and UK from 2017 through 2025 and that those investments supported 160,000 jobs. The same report said Aramco has spent about €80 billion with European suppliers.

The Rome event was organized by the PIF-backed Future Investment Initiative Institute, placing the comments in a forum closely tied to the Saudi fund’s global investment outreach.

The regulatory backdrop

The concern centers on the European Union’s foreign subsidies regulation, which came into force in 2023. The framework gives Brussels tools to scrutinize deals and public procurement involving companies backed by non-EU governments.

That regime is already being used in active investigations. Separate Wall Street Journal reports in 2026 showed the European Commission applying the rules to non-EU transactions, underscoring why investors see the policy as a live deal-making issue rather than a theoretical one.

Al-Rumayyan’s complaint reflects a broader fear among state-backed investors that the rules can slow mergers, acquisitions and procurement processes, or create enough uncertainty that deals become harder to pursue.

Brussels vs investors

EU officials privately dismiss the complaint as more about geopolitics than regulation, according to the Financial Times. Their view is that tensions around the Iran war and the wider regional environment matter more than the foreign-subsidies regime itself.

That disagreement leaves Brussels facing a delicate balance. The EU wants tools to police what it sees as unfair advantages from non-EU state support, but large sovereign wealth funds say the rules can make Europe feel less open to foreign capital.

PIF’s remarks suggest the issue is not limited to one transaction. The fund framed the problem as affecting both the ability to expand in Europe and the ability to preserve existing holdings there.

Why it matters

PIF is one of the Gulf’s most influential investors, so its criticism may shape how other state-backed funds view Europe. If those investors conclude that deal execution has become slower or less predictable, capital flows could be affected beyond any single acquisition or procurement process.

The issue also comes as Saudi Arabia balances overseas investment with a larger domestic push. PIF has not signaled it is pulling back from Europe, but it is clearly trying to do both: keep investing abroad while increasing emphasis at home.

For Europe, the comments revive a familiar policy question. How far can regulators go in screening foreign-backed deals before the system starts discouraging the investment the bloc still wants to attract?

What to watch

The immediate question is whether the European Commission responds publicly to the criticism.

Another point to watch is whether other Gulf investors echo the warning, which would suggest the concern is broader than a single Saudi fund’s experience.

Investors and policymakers will also be looking for more detail on where PIF’s additional €10.4 billion in Europe will go, and whether the fund can keep that commitment in place if scrutiny intensifies.