Conceptualising the Security Roles of Private Businesses within the EU

The paper will conceptualize the ever-increasing roles that various regular private businesses nowadays play in EU’s internal security. In the first section, the paper will survey the official EU documents in order to examine the official discourse regarding the specific sub-areas, as well as particular roles/contributions expected by public authorities from the private sector in EU’s internal security. The second part of the paper will provide a survey of existing the academic literature in order to identify suitable theoretical, or at least conceptual, frameworks that would allow for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the role of regular private businesses in the provision of security. At least three such frameworks appear worthy of further exploration: public-private partnerships, political corporate social responsibility, and resilience.