Behind the Screen: Understanding National Support for a Foreign Investment Screening Mechanism in the European Union,

This article explores variations in European Union (EU) member state preferences for the creation of a pan-European screening framework for foreign direct investment (FDI). The article shows that countries with higher levels of technology are more supportive of an investment screening mechanism (ISM). It also notes that country-level support for FDI screening is sector dependent. The findings are based on extensive interviews with high-level EU as well as EU member country officials involved in the negotiation process as well as a unique measure of national support for an EU-wide ISM created through the first-ever elite survey on this subject matter.

This piece originally appeared as Zenobia T. Chan and Sophie Meunier, “Behind the Screen: Understanding National Support for a Foreign Investment Screening Mechanism in the European Union,” The Review of International Organizations (2021), pp. 1-29. Copyright remains with the original holder.