Silent and Irresponsible European Approaches to Commercial Military Services

The policy brief examines the growing but under-reported reliance on private companies for military services across Europe. It contends that unlike the US and UK, European states maintain 'hybrid' arrangements where the state remains closely linked to market actors, which masks the extent of commercialization and prevents public democratic debate. The author identifies four drivers of this trend—technological, economic, strategic, and public management processes—and argues that the resulting lack of clear accountability benefits security professionals who prefer to avoid public scrutiny.

• There is a significant lack of consolidated and accessible information regarding the commercialization of military services in European countries, including Scandinavia, which hinders democratic debate and creates a gap between experts and the public.
• European military commercialization often takes 'hybrid' forms where the state retains ownership or close ties to private entities, making the process appear less spectacular and more banal than in the US or UK.
• The document identifies specific examples of state-linked military companies, such as France's Défense Conseil International (49% state-owned), Germany's BWI Informationstechnik (49.9% state-owned), and Italy's Difesa Servizi.
• Military commercialization in Europe is driven by four interrelated processes: technological needs for sophisticated systems, economic shifts toward networks and partnerships, strategic responses to asymmetrical threats, and public management goals to increase efficiency and cut costs.
• Because commercialization results from many small, pragmatic changes across different institutions rather than a single strategy, responsibility is diffused, leaving no clearly identifiable authority to hold accountable.
• Security professionals in Europe benefit from the current lack of accountability because it allows them to avoid contentious public debates about the state monopoly on force and enables the extension of their professional sphere without public scrutiny.

APA

Leander, A. (2012). Silent and Irresponsible European Approaches to Commercial Military Services. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/52e0d36a-705d-400b-af19-9d5bd8ea91f5/Leander-Silent-and-Irresponsible-PRIO-Policy-Brief-6-2012B.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Leander, Anna. Silent and Irresponsible European Approaches to Commercial Military Services. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2012. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/52e0d36a-705d-400b-af19-9d5bd8ea91f5/Leander-Silent-and-Irresponsible-PRIO-Policy-Brief-6-2012B.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Leander |first1=Anna |title=Silent and Irresponsible European Approaches to Commercial Military Services |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2012 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/52e0d36a-705d-400b-af19-9d5bd8ea91f5/Leander-Silent-and-Irresponsible-PRIO-Policy-Brief-6-2012B.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{leander2012silent, author = {Leander, Anna}, title = {{Silent and Irresponsible European Approaches to Commercial Military Services}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2012}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/52e0d36a-705d-400b-af19-9d5bd8ea91f5/Leander-Silent-and-Irresponsible-PRIO-Policy-Brief-6-2012B.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }