The European Parliament calls for legislation on private security companies
(BRUSSELS2) The European Parliament reiterated in the strongest terms its desire to see private security companies regulated at European level. The Gualtieri report, adopted last Wednesday (11 May), recommends " the adoption of European regulatory measures, including a comprehensive normative system for the creation, registration, authorisation, monitoring and communication of breaches of applicable law for private military companies and private security companies – at the levels internal external - ". And he asks the Council and the Commission to draw up two instruments immediately:
– a recommendation, valid at internal (EU) level, laying the foundations for a directive for “ harmonize national measures regulating the services of private military companies and private security companies, including service providers and service contracts »;
– a code of conduct, valid externally, laying the foundations for a decision “ regulating the export of the services of private military companies and private security companies to third countries not covered by the above directive ».
NB: the European Parliament does not have the power of legislative initiative. But he generally uses his power of recommendation to ask the Commission to relay his requests. If the latter is not legally bound to take up its proposals on its own, politically it could engage its responsibility to systematically refuse to do so, even if it is not uncommon for the Commission to have left it fallow for several years Parliament's demands. It should be noted that this procedure (request from the Parliament to the Commission) is sometimes used by the Commission to legitimize the use of its right of initiative (in particular in relation to Member States or certain pressure groups). The Commission should normally have a fairly broad competence, with a broad base – legal and political – to regulate services. Private security companies do not benefit from any prerogative of power. And the States could not, normally, plead the traditional reservations in matters of national defence.
The use of privates in EU missions
Parliament also asked the High Representative to provide it "as a matter of urgency" with information " details concerning the recruitment of private military companies and private security companies for CSDP and CFSP missions, specifying the professional requirements and standards imposed by the contractors, the applicable regulations and the legal responsibilities and obligations, the monitoring mechanisms, the evaluation of the effectiveness and the costs involved ».
NB: Parliament exercises here not a disguised right of initiative but its power of control. The request for emergency information is rare enough not to be respected except to engage in a political arm wrestling which is, rarely, won by the executive.
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