OpenLobby.EU
Explore

Confederation of European Security Services

CoESS

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) is the European umbrella organisation for 22 national private security employers’ associations.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Digital package – digital omnibus

14 Oct 2025

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) submits the attached response to the European Commissions consultation on a Digital Omnibus with a focus on the application of Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and the reporting frameworks established in the EU Digital Acquis, particularly Regulation 2024/2847 (EU Cyber Resilience Act).
Read full response

Response to 28th regime – a single harmonized set of rules for innovative companies throughout the EU

23 Sept 2025

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) is the EU-level sectoral social partner and employers association in the private security services industry, representing 23 national associations with 45,000 companies. CoESS recognises the potential benefits of a 28th Regime, which would allow innovative companies to operate under a single, harmonised set of EU-wide rules rather than navigating 27 separate national frameworks. Such an approach could strengthen Europes attractiveness as a business location. However, it is essential that any legislation establishing a 28th Regime clearly defines its scope, specifies which companies are eligible to benefit, and guarantees respect of Directive 2006/123/EC. Private security services are excluded from Directive 2006/123/EC as per Article 2.2 and regulated professions across the EU: for legitimate policy, safety and security reasons, each Member State establishes its own rules regarding authorisations for companies and the tasks, competencies, training, and licensing of security officers due to their implications for public safety and security. This means that authorisation mechanisms, legal tasks and competencies, training and qualifications differ largely among EU Member States. These necessary regulatory frameworks at national level are an indispensable tool for guaranteeing a minimum level of quality and professionalism, reflecting domestic contexts such as political climate, history, culture, social tradition, national public security considerations and risk environments. We therefore recommend excluding private security companies from the 28th regime to ensure that provisions are not in conflict with Member State competencies and regulation in private security and fully respect Directive 2006/123/EC. The 28th Regime must not create legal loopholes allowing security companies to provide cross-border services outside national regulatory frameworks. Such a development would breach Directive 2006/123/EC, undermine Member States competency over regulated professions and private security, weaken established sectoral regulation in private security, and pose a security risk.
Read full response

Meeting with Valentina Schaumburger (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné) and UNI Europa and

11 Sept 2025 · Public procurement of labor-intensive services in the view of the coming public procurement reform

Response to Digital Networks Act

11 Jul 2025

As the European Union advances towards next-generation connectivity with the deployment of 4G and 5G networks, the organisation of the ongoing phase-out of legacy 2G and 3G infrastructure raises significant concerns for the continuity and availability of critical security-related services, including private security services. With the attached position paper, the Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) contributes to the Call for Evidence for a Digital Networks Act. We highlight the continued reliance of Monitoring and Alarm Receiving Centres (MARCs) and other essential IoT-based systems on 2G/3G networks across Europe, as well as a lack of coordination and foresight in the 4G/5G migration planning. The rapid and fragmented shutdown of 2G/3G networks is often progressing without sufficient coordination with affected sectors, visibility, or impact assessments, which puts critical services such as monitoring and alarm response services at risk of disruption. Also in the light of the EU Preparedness Union Strategy, we therefore call on the European Commission to ensure that the Digital Networks Act includes provisions for coordinated network transitions that guarantee service continuity, ensure transparency, and safeguard users rights in the emergency and security sectors.
Read full response

Meeting with Regina Doherty (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur for opinion) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and

18 Mar 2025 · Public Procurement

Response to European Internal Security Strategy

10 Mar 2025

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS), representative EU association of the security services industry with 45.000 companies and 2mio. security officers in 23 European countries, congratulates the Commission on the important advancements made since the publication of the last Internal Security Strategy. Private security plays a crucial role in protecting infrastructure and public spaces, and our members increasingly leverage advanced technologies to this end. Still, we note that the potential of public-private collaboration and the strategic use of innovation in security is not fully realized. Looking forward, we welcome the objective to mainstream security into EU initiatives and to look at all policies through a security lens, as stated in the Commission Presidents Political Guidelines. It is thereby important, as the Call for Evidence states, that security is addressed in a whole-of-society approach, including private partners and civil society. With these objectives in mind, we recommend the EU Internal Security Strategy to address two specific aspects: 1. Strengthening public-private partnerships 2. Leveraging innovation and technology in security services Detailed recommendations to this end can be found in the attached position paper. The private security industry remains committed in supporting the European Commission in the implementation of the EU Internal Security Strategy.
Read full response

Response to Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

7 Mar 2025

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS), EU Sectoral Social Partner in the Private Security Services, strongly welcomes the planned revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24. Private security provides an essential service to public contractors. Our members protect Critical Infrastructure and public spaces, incl. mass events, and assist first responders during emergencies. Quality-focused procurement in security services is crucial for public security, but the current Directive does not fully ensure this. The European security services industry therefore believes that it is right to revise Directive 2014/24. A revision should have the objective to help implement the EU's strategic goals : - Fair competition through mandatory compliance of bidders with labour and sectoral legislation, including Collective Agreements (where they exist). - High-quality jobs with fair wages and working conditions, underpinned by Collective Agreements and adequate training, to support inclusive growth. - Sustainability and enforcement of EU Green Deal benchmarks. - Innovation via faster uptake of critical technologies like AI and drones, boosting competitiveness and digital transformation. - Economic and societal resilience, ensuring the security of critical infrastructure and availability of essential services such as private security, including during public emergencies. Practically, this means that the Directive must be simplified and provide legal certainty for buyers to award and enforce quality. We therefore call for a revision along four lines: 1. Legally mandatory bidder compliance with labour and sectoral legislation, as well as Collective Agreements (where they exist), as selection criteria. 2. Legal clarity on awarding criteria which prioritise quality jobs, sustainability, innovation, and resilience, with an obligation to use at least 60% quality criteria over price. 3. Legal basis for execution criteria that ensure enforcement of quality awarding criteria. 4. Legally mandatory clauses that allow for price revisions tied to changes in Collective Agreements, labour and fiscal law, and annual inflation rates above the 2% target of the ECB. CoESS represents 23 national sectoral employer associations from 17 EU Member States, as well as 45.000 companies with 2million private security officers in Europe. Our detailed input can be found, together with a Joint Statement with our EU Sectoral Social Partner UNI Europa, as part of the in-depth public consultation.
Read full response

Meeting with Piotr Müller (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Veolia Environnement

5 Mar 2025 · Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

Response to Single Market Strategy 2025

30 Jan 2025

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) represents the security services industry which is regulated in all EU Member States and, for important reasons of public security, rightly excluded from the EU Services Directive 2006/123 as per Article 2.2. We stress that this exclusion must not be changed. From the view of our industry, we believe that the Single Market Strategy 2025 can contribute to improving the enforcement of existing regulations and enhancing cooperation between Member States for cross-border background checks of security personnel. Also, we underline the importance of the planned revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24 as a way to promote quality jobs and innovation in the EU Single Market. For detailed input, please find attached our position paper.
Read full response

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

9 Jul 2024 · The Public Procurement Directives and the role of social criteria in public procurements awarding

Response to How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?

28 Jun 2024

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) highly welcomes the European Commissions White Paper on How to master Europes Digital Infrastructure Needs. We strongly believe that, together with recent EU Council Conclusions on the future of the EUs digital policy and of cybersecurity, the Paper sets the basis for future initiatives to enhance resilience, innovation and competitiveness in the European economy. Private security services in Europe increasingly depend on digital infrastructure, particularly in the Monitoring and Alarm Receiving business, due to advancements in technology and customer expectations for real-time response capabilities. Digital infrastructure enables seamless integration of surveillance systems, alarms, and real-time data analytics, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring and alarm response operations. The transition to 5G technology and the adoption of cloud infrastructure are thereby pivotal for the advancement of security services such as in Monitoring and Alarm Receiving Centres (MARC). As set out in this contribution to the consultation, this shift requires transparency in infrastructure investments (e.g. in the case of the 5G transition), EU regulation that promotes innovation and legal certainty, as well as robust security measures that adapt to evolving threats in a technologically connected environment.
Read full response

Response to Report on the application of the General Data Protection Regulation

8 Feb 2024

Please find the input from the Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) in the attached paper.
Read full response

Response to List of essential services that critical entities provide

20 Jun 2023

For various reasons outlined in the attached position paper, CoESS suggests removing the wording security services from point (2) (c) (ii) and, instead, further encourage Member States to refer to the EN 17483 Standard System to help operators comply with Art. 13.1.e, as a useful tool to ensure the high level or quality and, hence, protection, of CE in Europe. As highlighted multiple times in the negotiation process on the CER Directive, CoESS is convinced that security services delivered to any kind of essential service should meet certain criteria. This can be ensured by diligent transposition of Article 13.1.e and Art. 16 of the CER Directive at Member State level.
Read full response

Meeting with Axel Voss (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Internet Economy Foundation

2 Mar 2022 · AI Act

Meeting with Andrea Nahles (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit) and EuroCommerce and

19 Oct 2020 · Social dialogue

Response to Evaluation of the 2008 European Critical Infrastructure Protection Directive

6 Apr 2018

The Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) acts as the voice of the private security industry which provides a wide range of services, both for private and public clients, including nuclear plants, airports, and many other Critical Infrastructure (CI) facilities. For example, about 60 per cent of all security services in European airports today is being outsourced to the private sector. Based on best practices and efficient public‐private cooperation, CoESS wishes to see the security and protection of CI optimised through an explicit recognition of the complexity of the issue, involving public and private actors. Hence, CoESS highly welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to evaluate the 2008 European Critical Infrastructure Protection Directive, plans to ensure better protection of CI by means of common Operator Security Plans (OSP), and next steps mentioned in the roadmap. Since many years CoESS has been proactive in this matter, by contributing to meetings and publishing documents, such as its White Paper and Guidelines on Critical Infrastructure Security and Protection. It is currently developing a CEN standard for suppliers of private security services to CI. CoESS also recently published a study on Transport Security, covering many different aspects of CIP in the aviation, maritime and land transport sector. CoESS particularly welcomes that the evaluation of the 2008 Directive will be conducted in view of evolving terrorist threat scenarios, including insider threats, use of drones, and hybrid threats, which are common challenges to the different kinds of CI. Whilst insider threats and drones have proven to considerably weaken and circumvent existing CIP measures, we also witness that the frequency of large-scale cyberattacks on CI increased tremendously. The assessment of these risks and means to enhance resilience against them and their human-cyber interface (human acts that allow a cyberattack to take place) is crucial when evaluating the 2008 Directive and creating future OSPs. Whilst the steps mentioned in the roadmap are all important and necessary, CoESS recommends that the evaluation should go further, so as to assess other factors when creating common approaches for CIP. First, enhanced resilience starts with the introduction of procurement quality guidelines for contracting private security companies (PSCs) for CIP tasks. Too often, security providers are chosen based on price-criteria only. CoESS supports procurers in identifying quality criteria, mainly by providing a best value manual entitled “Buying Quality Private Security Services”, produced in conjunction with its Social Partner UNI Europa, and with financial support from the European Commission. The guide can be downloaded on www.securebestvalue.org. CoESS further advocates that explicit roles and responsibilities for protecting CI should be allocated, and that common risk assessment standards should be adopted. Security should be built into the design and operation of CI in order to reduce security costs as well as improve security effectiveness, and not be added on as an afterthought. For the transport sector, CoESS has produced specific recommendations in our Transport Security Report. Importantly, CoESS stresses that the role of PSCs has to be recognised in relevant related policies, legislations and guidelines, which should include the promotion of public-private partnerships in CIP. PSCs can play an important role in enhancing resilience of CI, as they are usually the first line of response for most of the threats and current modus operandi of terrorists. Consequently, it is crucial that the private security sector be consulted at the very early stages of conceptualisation of approaches and possible resilience strategies. Further information on our recommendations can be found in the CoESS White Paper on Critical Infrastructure Security and Protection.
Read full response

Meeting with Julian King (Commissioner)

6 Jun 2017 · security matters

Meeting with Silvio Mascagna (Cabinet of Commissioner Julian King)

28 Feb 2017 · Security Union

Meeting with Severine Wernert (Cabinet of Commissioner Julian King)

8 Dec 2016 · Infrastructure protection

Meeting with Kaius Kristian Hedberg (Cabinet of Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska)

27 Feb 2015 · Internal Market Strategy for Goods and Services