New EU intelligence service proposed
European Commission President von der Leyen plans a new EU spy service. It would fall under her remit and rival the existing intelligence cell at the Foreign Affairs chief.
BRUSSELS/BERLIN (own report) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is planning to create a new EU spy service in open competition with the Union’s existing intelligence centre. Reports say the new intelligence unit is to come under the auspices of the Commission’s service body, the Secretariat-General, and thus report directly to von der Leyen. The IntCen (Intelligence Analysis Centre) intelligence unit, which has already been in existence for years, falls under the remit of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas. Observers suspect that von der Leyen wants to use the new service to further strengthen her power at Kallas’ expense. However, there is widespread scepticism as to its practical role. Bigger member states in particular may not like to see the emergence of a strong CIA-style EU intelligence service. They have so far preferred the use of their own national agencies and have little interest in intelligence sharing with a potential competitor. There have been calls for the establishment of an EU spy service since the 1990s, partly because various EU states found themselves cut off from information provided by US intelligence services during the Yugoslav Wars. Fears are growing about intelligence-sharing problems worsening under US President Donald Trump.
‘Rethinking dependence’
The establishment of an EU intelligence agency was already being demanded in some quarters back in the 1990s. The context was the experience of European governments during the Yugoslav Wars, when they found themselves dependent on intelligence from American secret services – and were not always given the information they needed. This led to “a rethinking of the existing dependence” on the United States, a term used in a 1996 article in ‘Internationale Politik’, the journal of the German Council on Foreign Relations. It argued that, if the EU really wanted to develop its own security and defence policies then “the provision of reliable, comprehensive analysis to Europe’s political and military leadership must be ensured.”[1] This meant that the EU needed “a common intelligence service”. Brussels took the first steps immediately after NATO’s attack on Yugoslavia in 1999. Javier Solana, who became the EU’s chief foreign policy official in October 1999, initiated the establishment of an intelligence cell, initially assigned to the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) and named the Joint Situation Centre (SitCen). In 2002, it was transformed into an independent institution under the remit of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Relations and Security Policy.
‘Eyes and ears around the world’
At the beginning of 2003, when the EU was preparing to take over the NATO-led military operation ‘Allied Harmony’ in North Macedonia, SitCen’s activities were already considered quite successful. Solana said at the time that Brussels had progressed so far that the EU would even be able to carry out the initial deployment “without NATO”. SitCen, he claimed, had “a network of over a hundred observers” in South-Eastern Europe. They were trained in intelligence to tap local informant sources “openly or covertly” and report their findings on a daily basis in encrypted form to Brussels.[2] “What comes from there is often better and more detailed than the material from the national services,” said a Solana employee at the time. “We have our own eyes and ears around the world.” In fact, SitCen could rely on “confidential and secret information from EU diplomatic missions operating in 130 countries,” Der Spiegel reported.[3] In 2011, SitCen was integrated into the newly established European External Action Service (EEAS) and renamed the Intelligence Analysis Centre (IntCen) in March 2012, which is currently the situation.
‘Strategic and operational’
IntCen is not officially allowed to carry out its own operational activities but only to process publicly available information and intelligence collected by national intelligence agencies. The limitations have led to repeated calls to either turn the unit into a fully-fledged intelligence service modelled on the CIA or to create a spy agency elsewhere in the EU system. The latter course of action was very recently recommended by Sauli Niinistö. The former Finnish President presented a report in October last year, having been tasked by the European Commission to explore ways of strengthening Europe’s readiness for war and civil defence. Niinistö not only advised that every household in the EU should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least three days,[4] he also argued that Brussels should have “a fully-fledged intelligence cooperation service at EU level that can serve both strategic and operational needs”.[5] The tasks to be performed included, he argued, the prevention of sabotage, particularly of critical infrastructure as well as counter-espionage in EU institutions.
Held to ransom?
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is now pushing ahead with plans to create such an intelligence service. There are reports that a new intelligence unit is to be established within the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, answering directly to the Commission President herself. Several Commission staff members involved in the process say that a concept is currently being drawn up and that the necessary discussions are in full swing. In any case, the idea is to recruit intelligence service personnel from EU member states and collate intelligence for joint purposes. The deployment of agents in the field is not currently envisaged.[6] In addition to general considerations, one factor cited for this initiative is Europe’s dependency on the United States. It is feared that President Trump can hold Europe to ransom by withdrawing intelligence sharing. Trump already did this back in March with Ukraine. By blocking the flow of intelligence he hoped to force Kiev to make political concessions.[7] The proponents of a dedicated EU spy agency say this unit is imperative to prevent the EU from finding itself in a similar situation in the future. EU leaders are concerned about being at the Trump administration’s mercy.
‘No need’
Initial reactions to von der Leyen’s initiative, however, been overwhelmingly negative. On the one hand, it is pointed out that the IntCen already serves as an intelligence cell. Establishing another such unit would only create expensive duplicate structures. Some observers also suspect that von der Leyen’s aim is to further expand her power – at the expense of the EEAS and the EU High Representative, whose remit includes IntCen. Another view is that national security, including intelligence capabilities, should remain in the hands of the member states. In fact, in past discussions the powerful states with large intelligence services, most notably Germany and France, have shown no inclination to make their capabilities widely available to weaker member states via an EU intelligence-gathering cell.[8] Finally, critics point out that IntCen is currently being restructured anyway. And there is already a higher-level collation point for intelligence data in the shape of the Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity (SIAC), within which IntCen has long been closely cooperating with EU Military Staff Intelligence (EUMS Int). There is therefore “no need” for a new structure, say some protagonists.
[1] Klaus Becher: Ein Nachrichtendienst für Europa. In: Internationale Politik 1/1996.
[2], [3] Dirk Koch: Augen und Ohren. Der Spiegel 8/2003. See also: Eine europäische CIA (II).
[4] Wolfgang Böhm: Jeder EU-Bürger muss sich 72 Stunden versorgen können. diepresse.com 30.10.2025.
[5] Joshua Posaner: Create a CIA-style European spy service, von der Leyen is told. politico.eu 30.10.2024.
[6] Henry Foy: EU to set up new intelligence unit under Ursula von der Leyen. ft.com 10.11.2025.
[7], [8] USA kappen Geheimdienstinformationen für die Ukraine. tagesschau.de 05.03.2025.
