Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIGPSC (Shaping the European Migration Policy: the role of the security industry)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2018-11-01 al 2020-10-31
Looking back to the last 20 years of EU migration management policy, it has become more and more palpable the growth and development of a security industry within a hybrid space, where European and non-European security forces operate alongside NGOs, humanitarian groups and international organizations, and where private security companies play a key role supplying technology, military equipment, hardware and intelligence services.
The European Agenda for Migration already reflects the blurring of the lines between internal and external security, with policy outputs echoing the weight of the security industry.
EU policy on migration has been mirroring the blurring of the lines between internal and external security, and this fact has promoted and widened the already active market for security. This has been particularly true internally, at the policy- making level (essentially through lobbying), and externally, in particular in the Mediterranean region where the role of the private security actors in migration management is especially multifaceted - private actors are the main suppliers of top technological border control equipment and trained personnel. Moreover, providing on-the-ground expertise, private security actors also provide risk analysis for NGO’s, for Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations, support for FRONTEX operations.
One key aspect of this hybridisation is the growing ties between the representatives of the security industry and the European Commission. One of the most visible examples of this are the outcomes of the High-level Security Roundtables hosted and promoted by the European Organization for Security (EOS - the biggest private platform for security and defence industry based in Brussels) during the peak of the migrant crisis in 2011. The roundtables were held with the patronage of the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, and resulted in the reinforcement of the policies towards border control. One of the measures of greatest impact, operation HERMES, was launched days after the roundtable. Presently, EOS has an active cooperation with DG HOME, DG MARE and DG ENTR to support and advise the European Commission on several areas, namely smart border initiatives, as well as supporting the implementation of EUROSUR and helping with the design of the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE).
Taking into consideration the apparent growing importance of the private security industry in the design and implementation of EU migration management policies, I think that there is a need for a comprehensive and deep analysis, in order to understand the full extent and implications of this relationship.
This project seeks to understand the increasing role of private security companies and the weight of the security industry in the way EU migration management policy is shaped and produced. Later advances, not only in the security field in general, but also in the migration field, in particular, illustrate that the market for security is continuously flourishing and a demand market is fed by evolving migration flows. In order to understand the level of influence of private security actors in the design of EU migration policymaking, we will use process-tracing methodology to observe the changing pathways of the migration policy process and understand when and why this changed has occurred. Therefore, this project seeks to answer:
How do private security actors and defence industry shape the European migration management policy inside and outside the EU borders?
Who are the main private security actors and defence companies shaping and lobbying EU’s migration management process?
What are the impacts of outsourcing security in EU migration management?
How is EU migration policy evolving and adapting to borderless security threats?
How does the private security industry shape the security agenda? How and why private security actors play a key role in driving it?
More importantly, it is relevant to highlight that the interdisciplinary dimension of the research is in direct correlation with how the European Commission frames the migration problem, in line with the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM) , and how it is addressed within the different DG’s (for example the importance of migration within DG Research).especially what is their role into the forthcoming articulation between smart technological borders and EU Home Affairs and Migration Agenda.
The European Agenda for Migration already reflects the blurring of the lines between internal and external security, with policy outputs echoing the weight of the security industry.
EU policy on migration has been mirroring the blurring of the lines between internal and external security, and this fact has promoted and widened the already active market for security. This has been particularly true internally, at the policy- making level (essentially through lobbying), and externally, in particular in the Mediterranean region where the role of the private security actors in migration management is especially multifaceted - private actors are the main suppliers of top technological border control equipment and trained personnel. Moreover, providing on-the-ground expertise, private security actors also provide risk analysis for NGO’s, for Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations, support for FRONTEX operations.
One key aspect of this hybridisation is the growing ties between the representatives of the security industry and the European Commission. One of the most visible examples of this are the outcomes of the High-level Security Roundtables hosted and promoted by the European Organization for Security (EOS - the biggest private platform for security and defence industry based in Brussels) during the peak of the migrant crisis in 2011. The roundtables were held with the patronage of the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, and resulted in the reinforcement of the policies towards border control. One of the measures of greatest impact, operation HERMES, was launched days after the roundtable. Presently, EOS has an active cooperation with DG HOME, DG MARE and DG ENTR to support and advise the European Commission on several areas, namely smart border initiatives, as well as supporting the implementation of EUROSUR and helping with the design of the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE).
Taking into consideration the apparent growing importance of the private security industry in the design and implementation of EU migration management policies, I think that there is a need for a comprehensive and deep analysis, in order to understand the full extent and implications of this relationship.
This project seeks to understand the increasing role of private security companies and the weight of the security industry in the way EU migration management policy is shaped and produced. Later advances, not only in the security field in general, but also in the migration field, in particular, illustrate that the market for security is continuously flourishing and a demand market is fed by evolving migration flows. In order to understand the level of influence of private security actors in the design of EU migration policymaking, we will use process-tracing methodology to observe the changing pathways of the migration policy process and understand when and why this changed has occurred. Therefore, this project seeks to answer:
How do private security actors and defence industry shape the European migration management policy inside and outside the EU borders?
Who are the main private security actors and defence companies shaping and lobbying EU’s migration management process?
What are the impacts of outsourcing security in EU migration management?
How is EU migration policy evolving and adapting to borderless security threats?
How does the private security industry shape the security agenda? How and why private security actors play a key role in driving it?
More importantly, it is relevant to highlight that the interdisciplinary dimension of the research is in direct correlation with how the European Commission frames the migration problem, in line with the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM) , and how it is addressed within the different DG’s (for example the importance of migration within DG Research).especially what is their role into the forthcoming articulation between smart technological borders and EU Home Affairs and Migration Agenda.
Between December 2018 and November 2020, I have presented the findings in several international conferences and online workshops.
I had the opportunity to fully enjoy the benefits of the MSCA fellowship and I presented and moderated different panels in several international conferences such as UACES, EISA and BISA during 2019 and 2020.
I have published two peer-reviewed articles and I have submitted two additional ones in also negotiated a book contract with Edgar Elgar Book series.
Additionally, I have created and managed the International Centre for Policing and Security LinkedIn, YouTube Channel and Twitter where all the major outputs of the research of the ICPS are disseminated, including mine.
In October 2019 I was invited as Lecturer and Instructor in Border Security and Border Technology at COE-DAT NATO in Kuwait to deliver the modules on International organisations’ (UN, EU, OSCE, FRONTEX), perspectives on border security, achievements, challenges, Human and technological aspects of border security and Transnational and Hybrid Threats in Border Management and Security.
I am currently engaged in Hydra simulation teaching and instruction at the MSc in Policing and Risk Management at the USW and I have been applying qualitative meta-analysis and tools such as NVivo, MAXQDa and Power BI methodology. I also developed and maximised my quantitative analysis methods for horizon-scanning such as statistical, mathematical, and numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys,
As an instructor for COE-DAT NATO I had the opportunity to examine in practice the dimension of Frontex operations, namely in what regards the policy aspects related to the Human Factors on Border Control Management, the challenges and gaps posed to Frontex operations and the impacts of the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to secure the EU’s external borders.
I had the opportunity to fully enjoy the benefits of the MSCA fellowship and I presented and moderated different panels in several international conferences such as UACES, EISA and BISA during 2019 and 2020.
I have published two peer-reviewed articles and I have submitted two additional ones in also negotiated a book contract with Edgar Elgar Book series.
Additionally, I have created and managed the International Centre for Policing and Security LinkedIn, YouTube Channel and Twitter where all the major outputs of the research of the ICPS are disseminated, including mine.
In October 2019 I was invited as Lecturer and Instructor in Border Security and Border Technology at COE-DAT NATO in Kuwait to deliver the modules on International organisations’ (UN, EU, OSCE, FRONTEX), perspectives on border security, achievements, challenges, Human and technological aspects of border security and Transnational and Hybrid Threats in Border Management and Security.
I am currently engaged in Hydra simulation teaching and instruction at the MSc in Policing and Risk Management at the USW and I have been applying qualitative meta-analysis and tools such as NVivo, MAXQDa and Power BI methodology. I also developed and maximised my quantitative analysis methods for horizon-scanning such as statistical, mathematical, and numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys,
As an instructor for COE-DAT NATO I had the opportunity to examine in practice the dimension of Frontex operations, namely in what regards the policy aspects related to the Human Factors on Border Control Management, the challenges and gaps posed to Frontex operations and the impacts of the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to secure the EU’s external borders.
The research has shed light on the role of private commercial actors and how they shape the EU migration policy agenda, by examining how the private security industry and defence sector have been portraying migration as a security threat and how they explore the anxiety factor to have a prominent role in the policy agenda.
By examining the public-private partnerships, lobbying activities and interviews this research analysed how these interactions occur in a dynamic external border, in particular in what regards border technology applied to migration management.
Following the Commission decision to initiate a close dialogue to enhance the competitiveness within the European security industry, the research acknowledges a growing relationship between the EU and private security and defence actors in all the migration areas related to detention, biometrics, security, defence and aerospace and how the so-called migration impacts have increased and boosted the securitization and militarization of the EU external borders.
By examining the public-private partnerships, lobbying activities and interviews this research analysed how these interactions occur in a dynamic external border, in particular in what regards border technology applied to migration management.
Following the Commission decision to initiate a close dialogue to enhance the competitiveness within the European security industry, the research acknowledges a growing relationship between the EU and private security and defence actors in all the migration areas related to detention, biometrics, security, defence and aerospace and how the so-called migration impacts have increased and boosted the securitization and militarization of the EU external borders.