Von der Leyen โSeeks Enhanced Intelligence Capabilities for EU Commission, Facesโฃ Resistance from Member States
Plans by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to bolster the Commission’sโ intelligence gathering capabilities are meeting with skepticism from EU member states, according to reports from the dpa โคnews agency. the proposalโข centers around establishing a new intelligenceโค unit withinโ the Commission’sโ General Secretariat.
Member states are reportedly pointing toโ the โexisting Single Intelligenceโ Analysis Capacity (Siac) as sufficient for coordinating intelligence information. Siac comprises โขthe Center for Information Acquisition adn Analysis (Intcen) and the military intelligence structure EUMS INT, already serving asโฃ a central collection point for intelligenceโ fromโฃ national services in Brussels.
The Commission argues that a dedicatedโข unit would strengthen โขits โฃsecurity and โintelligence work in the face of growing geopolitical and geoeconomic โchallenges. Specifically, officials highlight โconcerns โฃregarding covert attempts at economic influence by external actors and hybrid threats, including the manipulation of migrationโข patterns.
According to information reported by the Financial Times,โ the proposed unit would receive intelligence from โคnational services and be staffed, in part, by experts seconded from the secret services ofโฃ memberโข states.
Commission representatives also suggest theโ Commission possesses valuable knowledge that couldโ complementโค existing intelligence efforts. They note that intelligence work is frequently โenough aโ reciprocal process and believe the Commission has relevantโ expertise to contribute, particularly given that Intcen currently operates under the European External Action Service, led by EU Foreign Affairs Representative Kaja Kallas.
The future of the plans remains uncertain. A Commission spokesperson describedโ the initiative as being โฃin a โ”very embryonic stage,” andโ emphasized that the new agency would be designed โto complement existing services,likely consisting of โonly a small โteam of experts.
Critics within the member states point to recent guidelinesโ outliningโ an expanded role for Siac, which is โฃcurrently undergoing โrestructuring to provide increased โฃsupport to the Foreign Service, the Commission, its Security College,โค and โฃthe Council of Member States.
Source: โคdpa/rct**