Brussels, 14/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 14 March, the European Commission set up a public consultation on the EU security industry. In a press release it explains that it would like to “unleash the industry's potential”. This consultation is aimed at improving the very fragmented nature of the internal market and its weak industrial base. It also aims to question stakeholders about national regulatory frameworks and standards framing the security products market (which range from camera systems to scanners), as well as whether it is useful to “develop a fast-track system for approval of priority technologies”, such as speeding up the introduction of R&D into the security technologies field. The consultation will focus on the following areas: means to overcome market fragmentation (i.e. certification and standardisation procedures); reinforcing the security industrial base (i.e. access to international markets, synergies between civil and military technologies and liability related issues); closer cooperation between manufacturers, system integrators, and service providers on one hand and with clients on the other and the societal dimension of security - i.e. ensuring the privacy compliance of security technologies (data protection). (S.P./transl.fl)