Create a “super intelligence”, made up of the best 007s in the field. This is the line on which the European Commission is moving. Ursula von der Leyen’s aim is to improve the use of information collected by national spy agencies: to network to defend Europe in a more strategic way. The Financial Times revealed Von Der Leyen’s moves.
New 007s at the service of the European Commission?
According to the Financial Times, the new intelligence will be established within the general secretariat of the Commission. The plan is to hire officials from EU intelligence and receive information “for common purposes”. The plan would not have been formally communicated to all 27 EU member states.
However, the idea would encounter resistance from senior officials of the EU diplomatic service, which supervises the Union’s Situation and Intelligence Center (Intcen). The declared fear is that of a “duplicate” organism, the unspoken fear is of being de facto deprived of authority by the new creature.
A Commission spokesperson remained cautious with the Financial Times, speaking of ongoing evaluations. “The concept is under development and discussions are ongoing. No specific timeline has been set,” the sources said, adding that it “will build on existing expertise within the Commission and work closely with the respective services of the European External Action Service.”
