Screening Authorities in the EU: Considerations on Governance, Powers, and Accountability

Investment screening regimes have proliferated over the past few years across the European Union, following the adoption of the EU Screening Regulation, as well as due to a geopolitical context that favoured the adoption of measures for protecting EU strategic assets. In the EU, investment screening regimes remain at the Member State level, hence creating a patchwork of rules and procedures, each administered and applied by national screening authorities. This article aims to investigate how screening authorities across the EU are designed and operate, and how their setup may impact the administration and implementation of screening regimes. It starts by identifying the key governance models to which Member States have resorted in designing competent screening authorities, and then examines how the adopted governance model may influence the substantive and procedural powers conferred upon screening authorities, their competence and efficiency in carrying out their tasks, the transparency of relevant processes, as well as the authorities’ accountability. It concludes by suggesting that a compromise to ensure efficient and accountable investment screening reviews may be to delegate certain functions and tasks to administrative (expert) bodies, while maintaining government involvement and oversight, especially at the decision-making stage.