16 Amendments of Georgios EPITIDEIOS related to 2016/2238(INI)
Amendment 16 #
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, aside from the armed forces of each country, do not always possess both in abundance;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Δ
Recital Δ
D. whereas, over the last few decades, private security companies (PSCs), a term which for the purposes of this resolution will also include Private Military Companies, have been increasinglymay be employed by national militaries and civilian agencies, both for the domestic provision of services and support for overseas deployment; provided that Member States exercise full control and accept responsibility for any illegal actions and war crimes they might commit;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ζ
Recital Ζ
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, often at short notice, capabilities that are entirelymay be lacking in the national armed forces, often at short notice certain countries; whereas PSCs could also be used for reasons of political convenience to avoid limitations on the use of troops;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Η
Recital Η
H. whereas PSCs have been involved in incidents resulting in loss of life; whereas this has had repercussions on the success of efforts ofby the international community in the countries in question and has revealed considerable gaps in accountability structures;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Θ
Recital Θ
I. whereas, for states to benefit from thein a controlled manner from certain advantages offered by PSCs, and to ensure that they can be held accountable, a legal framework should be put in place to facilitate their use; whereas PSCs are part of an industry, which is highly transnational in nature and as such requires a global approach to regulation; whereas the use of PSCs may undermine the military and hence upset the political balance in all countries of the world with unforeseeable consequences and incalculable implications;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital ΙΕ
Recital ΙΕ
O. whereas, in Europe’s current security environment, it is vital to prioritisepossible to seek the establishment of clear rules for cooperation and assistance between law enforcement and, private security companies and the national armed forces;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital ΙΣΤ
Recital ΙΣΤ
P. whereas maritime safety at the Horn of Africa was provided not only by military, but also by private actors deployed in accordance with a specific legal and operational strategy under the full control of the commanding officer responsible for its implementation;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that private security companies play an important role inmay, under certain circumstances, contribute greatly to 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 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that, compared to national troops, private security companies, particularly those based in host countries, can provide considerable cost savings as well as valuable local knowledge;
Amendment 132 #
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 their services fill capacity gaps that the EU would otherwise have difficulties in tackling, mainly when and where use of national troops is not feasible; 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 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Urges the Commission, the Council and the Member States to invest in 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 and to cooperate, as far as they judge possible and desirable, with private security companies;
Amendment 174 #
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 unprecedentaccurate and verified security intelligence to help improve security responsiveness; recommends developing a commercial satellite imagery- based ISR solution for the European Union;
Amendment 178 #
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 minimum engagement and good practices; recommends the creation of sector-specific EU quality standards;
Amendment 207 #
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 carry out effective monitoring of the PSCs used by them so as to be in a position to provide this information more consistently to allow for a proper assessment of the use of PSCs by their respective budgetary authorities;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Urges, therefore, that the EU and its Member States use their status in the Montreux Document Forum to insist upon regular reviews of the state of implementation of the Montreux Document’s recommendations for good practice by its participants; urges the Member States that have not yet done so to examine carefully the procedure for joining the Montreux document as soon as possible;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that one of the most effective ways of influencmonitoring PSCs is through public sector procurement decisions; emphasises, therefore, the importance of making the award of contracts to PSCs conditional on the adoption of best practices, such as the ICoC, which some Member States have already implemented; notes, however, that the ICoC compliance mechanism needs to be strengthened and its full independence assured to make it a credible incentive for compliance;