Brussels, 11/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - William Kolasky, senior official of the US Anti-Trust Department, confirmed on the sidelines of a meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday, that Washington was contemplating submitting all investment projects on the part of foreign partners for a value of over $100 million in a national company to prior approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). To date, notification with the CFIUS was not compulsory and the main reason for notification was to ensure the technological security of the operation. "There is a proposal, but it's only a proposal", said Mr Kolasky, saying "of course there will be further discussions on the issue" European investors fear this proposal will be a further obstacle to their projects, which are already subject to constraints on the part of American and European anti-trust authorities. The European Commission, for its part, is not unduly worried about the proposal which, it says, is not detrimental to European merger regulations. "Our position is that any country has the right to protect themselves from mergers that threaten national security (…). We have no problem with the principle since our legal framework already provides similar provisions", declared Amelia Torres, spokesperson for Commissioner Monti.