Regulating military and security services in the European Union

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing disillusionment with the lack of national and international regulation of private military and security services. While the expansion of the industry after the end of the Cold War has led to an increasing number of incidents – such as private soldiers accused of shooting at civilians on the streets of Baghdad,1 torturing prisoners in Abu Ghraib,2 trying to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea,3 training the Croatian army which committed human rights atrocities in the Krajina,4 and circumventing the arms embargo against Sierra Leone5 – only the United States and South Africa currently have separate laws concerning the export of private military and security services. Moreover, regional and international efforts such as the United Nations and African Union conventions on mercenaries have proven ineffective.