The European Commission has reportedly begun forming a new intelligence service, which is set to be under the control of President Ursula von der Leyen.
In an apparent bid to centralise more power in the hands of unelected Eurocrats in Brussels, a dedicated pan-European spy unit would be accountable to EU chief von der Leyen, the Financial Times reported.
“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,” a source with knowledge of the plans told the paper.
Currently, the EU has an intelligence arm, the European Union Intelligence and Situation Centre (INTCEN), which was established in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks in 2001 to enhance coordination among the various national intelligence services of EU member states.
While INTCEN is under the control of the European External Action Service, the diplomatic branch of the bloc, the proposed new unit would be formed within the Secretariat-General and would thus likely be more beholden to Brussels rather than the national governments.
Von der Leyen has some background in intelligence, given that before taking on the top role at the EU, she served as Angela Merkel’s Minister of Defence. Yet, her tenure as Germany’s Defence chief was mired in controversy, including a Hillary Clinton-style email scandal, in which her communications by text and email were deleted amid a probe into potential corruption.
Despite having left the German military in a “catastrophic” condition, Von der Leyen has been a major proponent of forming an EU Army, arguing that the Russian-Ukrainian war has demonstrated the need for a collective defence of Europe.
The EU chief has also openly backed the creation of a new spy agency in Brussels, as was advocated by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in a report last year, which called for forming a “fully-fledged EU service for intelligence cooperation”.
Niinistö said that “rapid decision-making and action” is needed during emergencies and therefore, the EU “requires greater clarity of organisation”.
The formation of such an agency has reportedly yet to be approved by the 27 member states of the bloc and may yet face hurdles due to the reticence of countries such as France to share their hard-won intelligence with others.
A spokesman for the Commission said that it is “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.”