site.btaEmployers Urge President to Veto New Law Allowing Cities to Hire Private Security Companies to Protect Them

Sofia, January 25 (BTA) - The Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Industrial Association and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry asked Thursday President Rumen Radev to veto a new Private Security Service Act which allows cities to hire private security companies to protect them.

The new law was passed by January 18. It introduces a new kind of business licence for security services in urban areas. Up until now, the practice has been for mayors of smaller communities to hire private companies to provide security in schools, parks or particular municipal buildings, or around water bodies. Large cities like Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv have municipal police forces.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party slammed this part of the law, saying it allows the "privatization" of services which ought to be provided by the Interior Ministry and implies that the existence of some Interior Ministry units, such as the police patrols, may be pointless.

The employer organizations argue that the law was adopted with significant violations of the established procedure and goes against the EU law.

They also say that the new law may violate the principle of parity between private security companies and the in-house security departments of public organizations: the former will rely solely on own financing and the latter on government money. This could result in government-supported dumping and may be seen as unauthorized state aid, the employers say.

It is important for the business community to see a bill prepared on the basis of a detailed analysis of the sector and the requirements of the national and EU legal standards and strategies, a bill that creates better condition for business development and competitiveness, and one that reflects the positions of all stakeholders.