Von der Leyen wants to create a European intelligence unit

BrusselsBrussels continues to push for greater union. among all the security forces of the member statesFollowing the wave of Russian hybrid attacks in recent weeks, Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission has announced it will propose the creation of a new EU-wide intelligence unit, an initiative still in its infancy and already facing considerable resistance from member states. The Commission's executive branch has yet to determine its budget or even its precise function. European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho simply explained that it would "coordinate" all intelligence services, both national and those of the European Union. It should be noted that the European External Action Service (EEAS) already has a department that maintains contact with and compiles data from the intelligence services of member states. While the Commission has not specified the new body's role, it promises that it will not overlap with the work of other European institutions, and certainly not with that of individual member states. In fact, security and defense is one of the competencies that member states retain entirely and have historically been staunchly opposed to ceding to Brussels, despite the threat posed by the expansionism of Vladimir Putin's regime and its hybrid attacks.

The European Commission has not yet presented any formal proposal for the creation of this new intelligence unit to the member states and is expected to send it in the coming days. Therefore, Tuesday's announcement may serve as a trial balloon, allowing the European Commission to gauge whether, in the face of cyberattacks and violations of EU airspace by Russia, member states would now be more willing to increase coordination and cooperation among their security forces.

New attempt at greater security cooperation

Brussels' gesture on Tuesday is part of Von der Leyen's desire to increase security and military cooperation among member states. Both the president of the European Commission such as the Defense Commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, They repeat like a mantra that all initiatives aimed at better coordination can save Europeans resources and, in turn, improve the efficiency and capacity of security and defense forces, both at the national and EU levels. However, some of the EU's most influential member states, such as France, have traditionally opposed them, given their extensive intelligence infrastructure and their distrust of increasingly pro-Russian countries, such as Hungary. However, since the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States, the intelligence services of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom began exchanging security information and data. Later, this collaboration became institutionalized and expanded, until in 2011 it was integrated into a department of the European Union's diplomatic services.