European external intelligence co-operation

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The growth of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union, and in particular of its military dimension during the last years, have been the subject of much public debate. Meanwhile, the parallel development of an external intelligence structure in the Council of the EU, has hardly been noticed. The present book assesses the significance of intelligence co-operation between Member States for a European Union that is assuming increasing responsibility in the international security environment, and its implications for existing security alliances. It describes the founding process of the strategic intelligence assessment unit, the so-called “Situation Centre” (SITCEN), in the Council of the EU and explains its organisation, the types and sources of intelligence that it assesses and its outputs. While the study examines the main political and practical obstacles to enhanced sharing of intelligence, it argues that the potential strengths of a fully integrated European intelligence function, as well as other factors internal and external to the Union, make the establishment of a Central European Intelligence Agency inevitable in the long term.