Better protection of European public spaces?

Anders Aaselund Høier

Legal and EU Policy Advisor EAGLE SHARK

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‍On October 18 the Commission launched an Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-3947_en.htm The Action Plan emphasizes terrorists “recurrent targeting of public spaces, exploiting the intrinsic vulnerabilities of “soft targets” from “complex "high intensity" attacks combining explosives and firearms” as well as “a growing number of "low tech" attacks against public spaces carried out with everyday items such as a vehicle for ramming or a knife for stabbing.”

The Action Plan concludes that “protecting public spaces poses particular challenges for Member States” and thus it “sets out measures to provide guidance and support to Member States at national, regional and local level in protecting public spaces.”

In order to counter terrorist organizations the Action Plan states that “the EU needs to be equally innovative in its response, harness technology and pool expertise across the Union” and "In the face of evolving threats, Europe needs to come together and join forces to develop innovative, sustainable and effective solutions to enhance the protection of public spaces."

The Action Plan then introduces a number of objectives and actions ranging from enhancing cooperation and coordination among Member States at policy level and between specialized police units, guidance material, exchange of best practices to improving cooperation between local actors and the private sector – the private sector being “private operators such as shopping malls, concert organizers, sport arenas and car rental companies.”

However, for the common “soft target” European it is unfortunate that the skills, experience and knowledge of the European private security industry which count more than 1.5 million private security contractors in 40 000 private security companies are not involved. The ambition of better protection of public spaces is simply harder to meet when all capacities are not exploited.

Despite the EU public procurement rules can regulate the activities and actions of private security companies in specific assigments it remains that Member States as well as the European Union itself needs an European or international legal framework in order to make full use of the capacities of the private security industry. In its resolution on private security companies http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P8-TA-2017-0289&language=EN&ring=A8-2017-0191the Parliament also stated that it is urgent to get such legal framework in place. And in the words of Vice-President of the Commission, Frederica Mogherini "A stronger legal framework for private security companies is in everybody's interest: it is certainly in the EU's interest, so that they can contribute in the right manner to the security of many people…". http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=CRE&reference=20170703&secondRef=ITEM-024&language=EN&ring=A8-2017-0191