21 Amendments of Eugen FREUND related to 2016/2238(INI)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas security and defence do not depend only on financial resources, but also on knowledge; whereas public authorities do not always possess both in abundancepublic authorities of the EU Member States make use of private security service providers;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the outsourcing of military activities, formerly an integral part of the activities of armed forces, is taking place, among other things, to provide services in a more cost-efficient manner, but also to compensate for a shortfall in capabilities in shrinking armed forces in the context of an increasing number of multilateral missions abroad; whereas PSCs can also , provide capabilities that are entirepartially lacking in national armed forces, often at short notice; whereas PSCs could also be used for reasons of political convenience to avoid limitations on the use of troops;
Amendment 48 #
G. whereas the outsourcing of military activities, formerly an integral part of the activities of armed forces, is taking place, among other things, to provide services in a more cost-efficient manner, but also to compensate for a shortfall in capabilities in shrinking armed forces in the context of an increasing number of multilateral missions abroad; whereas PSCs can also , provide capabilities that are entirely lacking in national armed forces, often at short notice; whereas PSCs could also be used for reasons of political convenience to avoid limitations on the use of troops; whereas the use of PSCs as a foreign policy tool raises a number of concerns;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas PSCs have been involved in incidents resulting in loss of life; whereas thisviolations of human rights and in loss of life; whereas the opacity in their behaviour and their lack of transparency has had repercussions on the efforts of the international community in the countries in question and has revealed considerable gaps in accountability structures, such as, among others, the creation of numerous layers of subsidiaries or subcontracts in diverse countries;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas, due to the lack of specific international regulation of PSCs and PMCs, the non-homogenous national legislations and self-regulation adopted by some PSCs provide a weak deterrent to prevent abuses and has a major impact on how PSCs operate in multilateral interventions and conflict regions;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas, for states to benefit from the advantages offered by PSCs, and to ensure that they can be held accountable, a legal framework should be put in placewith binding regulatory and monitoring mechanisms should be put in place at the international level to facilitate their use; whereas PSCs are part of an industry, which is highly transnational in nature and is intertwined with governmental and intergovernmental actors and as such requires a global approach to regulation;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas there is a lack of agreed definitions of PSCs, PMCs and of their services; whereas, as suggested by the definition included in the draft convention prepared by the UN Working Group on Mercenaries, a PSC can be defined as a corporate entity which provides on a compensatory basis military and/or security services by physical persons and/or legal entities; whereas military services in this context can be defined as specialised services related to military actions including strategic planning, intelligence, investigation, land, sea or air reconnaissance, flight operations of any type, manned or unmanned, satellite surveillance and intelligence, any kind of knowledge transfer with military applications, material and technical support to armed forces and other related activities; whereas security services can be defined as armed guarding or protection of buildings, installations, property and people, any kind of knowledge transfer with security and policing applications, development and implementation of informational security measures and other related activities;
Amendment 79 #
M. whereas the EU and 23 Member States have joined the Montreux document and whereas the EU is a Member of the Working Group on the International Code of Conduct Association; whereas the EU contributes in the context of the Human Rights Council to the possible development of an international regulatory framework; whereas the EU plays a critical role in promoting national and regional control over the provision and export of various military and security services;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that private security companies play an important complementary role in aiding the state’s military and civilian agencies by closing manpower and capability gaps created by budget cuts and increasing demand for the use of forces abroad; emphasises the availability of surge capacity at short notice as an additional benefit of the private provision of security services;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that, compared to national troopin many cases, private security companies, particularly those based in host countries, can provide considerable cost savings as well as can provide valuable local knowledge;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Underlines that the cost-effective principle of PSCs employment offers mainly benefits in the short-term, especially if a number of socioeconomic variables are not taken into consideration, and should therefore not become the main criteria when dealing with security issues; recalls that accountability and oversight mechanisms are crucial in order to ensure that the legitimacy and potential benefits of PMSCs are fully obtained;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the EU makes use of Private Security Companies abroad to guard its delegations and staff and to support its civilian and military CSDP missions; stresses that, in exceptional cases, their services fill capacity gaps that the EU would otherwise have difficulties in tackling; demands that the Commission and the Council produce an overview of where, when and for what reason Private Security Companies have been employed in support of EU missions;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises, however, that, particularly in conflict-prone environments, employing a PSC for certain duties can have negative side effects for the EU, especially for its legitimacy, by accidentally associating it with armed actors in a conflict area, with negative repercussions in the case of armed incidents, or by possibly compromising Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) and Security Sector Reform (SSR) efforts through the inadvertent strengthening of local actors; notes in particular the risks posed by uncontrolled sub-contracting;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Urges the Commission, the Council and the Member States to invest insupport research for more and better technologies such as facial recognition and crowd- control tools as part of automated controls at airports, metro stations and other places where crowds gather, together with private security companiesin order to improve the level of knowledge of security;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Draws attention on the fact that PSCs, besides offering security services, are conducting intelligence activities, as well, that, due to their potentially implications, require efficient regulation and control;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Council and the Commission that a single European Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) solution should be used to support all Member States; this would deliver unprecedented security intelligence to help improve security responsiveness; recommends developing a commercial satellite imagery-based ISR solution foro improve the conditions for exchanges of data between the security authorities of the European UnionMember States;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recommends that the European Commission draw up a Green Paper with the objective of involving all stakeholders from the public and private security sectors in a broad consultation and discussion of processes to identify opportunities for direct collaboration more efficiently and to establish a basic set of rules of engagement and good practices; recommends the creation of sector-specific EU quality standards; recommends, therefore, a clarification of the definition of PSCs before setting up an effective regulation of their activities, as the lack of it can create legislative loopholes;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 – indent 1 a (new)
Paragraph 12 – indent 1 a (new)
– security staff are subject to appropriate security screening,
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 – indent 4 a (new)
Paragraph 12 – indent 4 a (new)
– ensure reporting of eventual private military and security companies' irregularities and illegalities;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 – indent 4 a (new)
Paragraph 12 – indent 4 a (new)
– equitable remuneration of security staff is ensured;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes, however, that the evaluation of the performance of PSCs is hampered by the lack of consistent reporting about their use by both EU institutions and Member States’' governments; encourages Member States and EU institutions to provide this information more consistently to allow for a proper assessment of the use of PSCs by their respective budgetary authorities; recommends non-state actors should be actively engaged in the necessary evaluation processes that are crucial for the regulation and oversight of this industry;