Contributions of private businesses to the provision of security in the EU: beyond public-private partnerships

This article makes a threefold contribution to the literature on security pluralization in the European Union (EU). Firstly, it maps the existing EU level security strategies, their accompanying action plans and implementation reports in order to identify and critically asses the prevailing conceptual frameworks - public-private partnerships and resilience - evoked by EU policy-makers when it comes to the contributions of the private sector in the provision of security. Secondly, it explores a hitherto overlooked conceptual framework for analyzing the contributions of private businesses in the provision of security in the EU (and beyond): political corporate social responsibility. Thirdly, it surveys the key challenges of the growing role of private businesses in the provision of security (responsibilization, depoliticization, and commodification) which are important reminders that no matter what conceptual framework one prefers, the engagement of private businesses in the provision of security is always bound to raise a number of profound dilemmas. This in turn implies the need for (re-)consideration of the more traditional regulatory frameworks in order to safeguard important public goods and/or values.