Herausforderung: Maritime Sicherheit - Teil 1

In: Europäische Sicherheit: Politik, Streitkräfte, Wirtschaft, Technik, Volume 57, Issue 6, p. 31-36

Abstract

The current debate about internal security has many facets. One of the focal points of the discussion are potential amendments in the constitutional law in respect to an expansion of authorities of the armed forces and their competences to act.The subject of maritime security was touched only sporadically, although it is especially the maritime security which is of essential significance to Germany. Here, too, it is mainly about the question about the need for an expansion of the acting competence of the armed forces, in particular that of the Navy, to provide subsidiary support of other enforcement agencies in cases where these cannot act because of lacking means and capabilities. Against this backdrop this article aims at making the general public more aware of the subject "Maritime Security". Starting from a brief stock taking on the security situation and on the significance of the maritime dimension for Germany's security it then outlines the demand for action from an operational point of view by taking account of international initiatives and ultimately focuses on the legal implications of the topic and deduces proposals for a revision of the constitutional fundamentals. (Europäische Sicherheit / SWP)