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03.07.2023
EU AFFAIRS

Spanish EU Council Presidency: CoESS and APROSER make proposals for a future-oriented, more resilient, European Union

On 01 July 2023, Spain took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. It will thereby be responsible to lead the work in Brussels on important matters such as negotiations on the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act and initiatives in the context of the EU Year on Skills. In a Joint Statement published today, CoESS and APROSER declare the commitment of the European security industry to support the efforts of the Spanish Presidency on a large range of matters impacting not only the security services, but public security overall.

The timing of the Spanish Presidency comes at a particularly decisive stage. First, EU lawmakers will have to find agreement on a large range of open dossiers before the European elections in 2024, notably the EU AI Act. At the same time, European businesses and societies are confronted with a range of challenges, such as labour shortages and increasing threats to the protection of Critical Infrastructure and supply chains – to name only a few.

In their Joint Statement published today, the representatives of the European and Spanish private security industry, CoESS and APROSER, confirm their commitment to support the Spanish Presidency in its efforts to build a more future-oriented and resilient EU and make respective proposals for the way forward. These are grouped along four key messages:

  1. Recognising the value of private security services to European citizens and economy
  2. Adapt legislation to realities in a changing security landscape
  3. Public security empowered through qualified workers
  4. Enforce the provision of high-quality security services to European citizens

Important recommendations include the hosting of a private security roundtable in Brussels, principles of human-centred AI and legal certainty in the context of the future EU AI Act, and a call for a revision of the EU Public Procurement Directives.

The full Joint Statement can be found here