Close Menu
    Europa

    EU to set up new intelligence unit under Ursula von der Leyen

    Share.
    View 22 Comments

    22 Kommentare

    3. Power-Equality on

      **EU to set up new intelligence unit under Ursula von der Leyen**

      *Body to collate material from national agencies and improve its operational use*

      https://www.ft.com/content/b8a3aee3-222b-4b4f-a1e2-e7a819ac0dd2

      The European Commission has begun setting up a new intelligence body under president Ursula von der Leyen, in an attempt to improve the use of information gathered by national spy agencies.

      The unit, to be formed inside the commission’s secretariat-general, plans to hire officials from across the EU’s intelligence community and collate intelligence for joint purposes, said four people briefed on the plans.

      Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s warnings of reducing American security support to Europe have spurred the EU to rethink its homegrown security capabilities and begin its biggest rearmament drive since the cold war.

      One of the people said: “EU member state spy services know a lot. The commission knows a lot. We need a better way to put all that together and be effective and useful to partners. In intelligence, you need to give something to get something.”

      The move is opposed by senior officials at the EU’s diplomatic service, which oversees the bloc’s Intelligence and Situation Centre (Intcen), who fear it will duplicate the unit’s role and threaten its future, the people added. The plan has not been formally communicated to all the EU’s 27 member states, but the body aims to bring officials on secondments from national intelligence agencies.

      A commission spokesperson told the FT that it was “examining how to strengthen its security and intelligence capabilities. As part of this approach, the creation of a dedicated cell within the [secretariat-general] is being considered.”

      “The concept is being developed and discussions are ongoing. No specific timeline has been set,” they said, adding that it “would build on existing expertise within the commission and . . . closely co-operate with respective services of EEAS [European External Action Service].”

      Intelligence sharing has long been a delicate subject for EU member nations. Major states such as France, with extensive spying capabilities, have been wary of sharing sensitive information with partners. The emergence of pro-Russian governments in countries such as Hungary has further complicated co-operation.

      EU capitals are expected to resist the commission’s moves to create new intelligence powers for Brussels, two of the people said. But they added there had long been concerns over Intcen’s effectiveness, particularly as Europe responds to Russia’s hybrid war.

      “The commission is not going to start sending agents into the field,” said a second person.

      Trump’s suggestions that the US could reduce its support to Europe — and his temporary suspension of intelligence support to Ukraine this spring — have highlighted the continent’s reliance on Washington for certain capabilities.

      The new unit follows von der Leyen’s decision to establish a dedicated “security college” for her commissioners to be briefed on security and intelligence issues. She has also moved to fund weapons purchases for Ukraine and launch the Iris² satellite project.

      EU intelligence sharing dates back to the September 11 2001 terror attacks on the US, which prompted the spy agencies of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK to begin pooling classified security assessments.

      That eventually became more institutionalised, expanded to include other member states, and in 2011 was brought under the EU’s diplomatic service.

    7. micmaster on

      How does this woman still have a job?

      Has she actually done anything useful, or does she continue to fall upwards?

    8. VeenixO on

      Ah yes, another money sink that will fail. Exactly what the EU needs🤣

      Can we just fire this woman already and get someone competent?

    13. Azitzin on

      Ursula when blaming all on Kremlin – Pilar of Democracy and smarters leader of EU

      Ursula when proposing chat control – OPRESSION AND STUPID POLITICIAN!

      i love how bipolar comments sometimes.

    18. fane1967 on

      Please fund EPPO decently first. Hundreds of millions can be de-stolen by them. Oh wait, some politicians upset about it?

    19. Positive_Chip6198 on

      I vote these agents be called either the “Leyen-hearts” or the “leyen-sons-o-b’s” depending on your affinity.

    20. Ninevehenian on

      This paired with chatkontrol and other measures of surveillance.

      All that data must be put to use.

    22. BelgianPolitics on

      Ah my time to shine here. EU INTCEN and potential future EU alternatives is a subject that I happen to have some deep insights on for…various reasons.

      The EU already has an intelligence unit. It’s called EU INTCEN and its placed right where it belongs: as part of the European External Action Service (EEAS). Where it operates under the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and under the Common Foreign and Security Policy framework. They fuse intelligence together from all European intelligence services, add info from EU diplomats/ambassadors stationed all over the world and use GEOINT from SatCen.

      There is absolutely NO REASON why the President of the European Commission should have its own intelligence unit within a DG, doing the same job as EU INTCEN. She can just ask for INTCEN reports or intelligence from EU member states directly if she wants info on Russia and they can accept or decline.

      Ursula von der Leyen has crowned herself as foreign policy czar despite this being illegal. The President of the Commission has no business being involved with Foreign or Security Policy. **She is ONLY supposed to get involved on such issues when it relates to trade**. Everything else is the job of Kaja Kallas and Antonio Costa who have a DIRECT mandate from all 27 EU countries to do so.

      This is basically another power grab of her to sabotage Kaja Kallas and Antonio Costa. She did it with Charles Michel too when he was Council President. Kallas and Costa essentially get told by the 27 EU Minister of Foreign Affairs what they can or cannot do, can or cannot say. Von der Leyen, however, has no such mandate. She only has a foreign policy mandate on…trade. She is literally doing what she wants without permission from anyone.

      Everything she says or does on security of foreign policy is her own opinion and does not represent the EU. This is also why her visit to Israel was crazy. She visited and made a bunch of statements while having no political backing or legal right to do so. And now looks like she now wants to have her own intelligence unit so she can make those types of (illegal) statements look more credible.

      An competent Von der Leyen with good intentions would make INTCEN bigger, have more teeth and give it substantially more funding to counter the Russian threat. But that would mean an agency she does not control has more power. And she does not like that.

    Leave A Reply