Van Cleynenbreugel, Pieter --- "Accountability challenges for EU agencies in the context of third country equivalence assessments" [2019] ELECD 2263; in Hofmann, C.H. Herwig; Vos, Ellen; Chamon, Merijn (eds), "The External Dimension of EU Agencies and Bodies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 145

Book Title: The External Dimension of EU Agencies and Bodies

Editor(s): Hofmann, C.H. Herwig; Vos, Ellen; Chamon, Merijn

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: Accountability challenges for EU agencies in the context of third country equivalence assessments

Author(s): Van Cleynenbreugel, Pieter

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

In addition to their roles in supporting EU internal policies, agencies are increasingly called upon to assess, in one way or another, the equivalence of third country legal regimes. This chapter will offer an overview of the equivalence procedures in place before reflecting on the accountability challenges specific to those procedures. To that extent, the first part will identify and classify varieties of agency intervention in different third country equivalence procedures. Analysing the legal basis for agency intervention and the specific powers granted to the respective agencies in that respect, this part will develop a topology of different equivalence roles conferred on EU agencies. Building on this analysis, the second part will examine the accountability features in place in order to identify a particular gap in those accountability features, and will propose a way forward to close this gap.