EU Intelligence and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN)
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | March 18, 2012 |
| Preceding agency |
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| Type | Directorate in the EEAS |
| Headquarters | EEAS building 1046 Brussels, Belgium Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Employees | 70 |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | EEAS |
| Key document | |
The EU Intelligence and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN) is an intelligence body of the European Union (EU).
Since January 2011, the EU INTCEN is part of the European External Action Service (EEAS)[1] under the authority of the EU's High Representative.
Contents
Mission
EU INTCEN's mission is to provide intelligence analysis, early warning and situational awareness to the High Representative Federica Mogherini and to the European External Action Service, to the various EU decision making bodies in the fields of the Common Security and Foreign Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy and Counter-Terrorism, as well as to the EU Member States.[1]
EU INTCEN does this by monitoring and assessing international events, focusing particularly on sensitive geographical areas, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other global threats.[1]
History
The EU INTCEN has its roots in the European Security and Defence Policy of 1999, which put a group of analysts working on open source intelligence under the supervision of the High Representative Javier Solana[2] in what was then called the Joint Situation Centre. In the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington of 11 September 2001, Solana decided to use the existing Joint Situation Centre to start producing intelligence based classified assessments.[3]
In 2002, the Joint Situation Centre started to be a forum for exchange of sensitive information between the external intelligence services of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[2] At that time, the Centre's mission was:
- Contribute to early warning (in conjunction with other Council military staff). Sources: open source material, military intelligence, non-military intelligence and diplomatic reporting;
- Conduct situation monitoring and assessment;
- Provide facilities for crisis task force; and
- To provide an operational point of contact for the High Representative.[4]
At the request of Solana,[5] the Council of the European Union agreed in June 2004 to establish within SITCEN a Counter Terrorist Cell.[6] This Cell was tasked to produce Counter Terrorist intelligence analyses with the support of Member States' Security Services.
Since 2005, the SITCEN generally used the name EU Situation Centre.[7] In 2012, it was officially renamed European Union Intelligence Analysis Centre (EU INTCEN).[8]
Directors
- William Shapcott, a former British diplomat (2001-2010).
- Ilkka Salmi, previously the Head of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (2011- 2015)[9]
- Gerhard Conrad, former Head of Foreign Intelligence Section of the BND (2015-)
Organisation
As of 2015[update], the EU INTCEN is composed of four Divisions:[10]
- Analysis. It is responsible for providing strategic analysis based on input from the security and intelligence services of the Member States. It is composed of various sections, dealing with geographical and thematic topics.
- Open Source Intelligence.
- Situation Room.
- Consular Crisis Management.
The total number of EU INTCEN staff in 2012 and 2013 was close to 70.[10]
Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity (SIAC)
Since 2007,[11] the EU INTCEN is part of the Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity (SIAC), which combines civilian intelligence (EU INTCEN) and military intelligence (EUMS Intelligence Directorate). In the framework of the SIAC, both civilian and military contributions are used to produce all-source intelligence assessments.[12]
The EU INTCEN and the EUMS Intelligence Directorate are the main clients of the European Union Satellite Centre, which provides satellite imagery and analysis.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/sede/dv/sede041011cvsalmi_/sede041011cvsalmi_en.pdf
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ What could be called the "foundational act" of SITCEN was signed by Javier Solana on 15 November 2001. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ See, for example, Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/esdp/118626.pdf
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- CHENG, Yu-Chin. The Analysis of the European Union Common Intelligence Policy and Agency. JOURNAL OF MEDITERRANEAN AND BALKAN INTELLIGENCE AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL Volume 4 Number 2 2014
External links
- Statewatch: Secrecy reigns at the EU’s Intelligence Analysis Centre (January 2013)
- Mai'a K. Davis Cross: [1] "A European Transgovernmental Intelligence Network and the Role of IntCen," (2013) Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 14(3): 388-402.
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