Espionage games: the EU is considering the creation of a new intelligence service

The European Commission has begun forming a new intelligence agency designed to unite all national intelligence agencies. It is believed that the agency is a prototype of the CIA, but this is denied in Brussels. The decision to create a joint intelligence service is caused by the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, as well as a reduction in American support. Moreover, the organization of the new department coincided with the EU's rearmament campaign. What is the reason for this coincidence, what the espionage structure will be like and how the United States may react to it — in the Izvestia article.

The European Commission is creating a new intelligence agency: what is known

The European Commission (EC) has launched the creation of an intelligence unit within the General Secretariat of the European Union (EU). This was reported by the Financial Times, citing four sources. The new body is expected to be the first step towards establishing a centralized system for collecting and analyzing data from the national services of the EU member states. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will lead the division. The structures plan to involve former employees of the special services of European countries, for example, the French DGSE and the German BND. The agency's main task is to improve data exchange between national intelligence agencies, which have traditionally operated separately, and EU institutions.

The publication also writes that the decision to create the unit is related to the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine and the reduction of European support from the United States. "European intelligence services know a lot, but there is no exchange system between them. The Commission is trying to become a platform where information is transformed into strategic decisions. <...> We need a better way to combine this (intelligence. — Izvestia), in order to be effective and useful for partners," said one of the FT sources, explaining that "in intelligence, you need to give something to get something."

However, not everyone in Brussels supports the formation of an espionage agency. Representatives of the European External Relations Service (EEAS), responsible for the Intelligence and Situation Center of the European Union (EU INTCEN), are against it. They fear that the new structure will duplicate the functions of the Center and endanger its existence. Several European countries, including France and Germany, have also expressed doubts about the feasibility of transferring data to the new authority. There is an opinion that in this case there may be "leaks" of information through the "sympathetic to Moscow" governments of the EU countries.

The creation of the new intelligence service became known at the end of October. Former Finnish President Sauli Niinisto proposed to expand the powers of INTCEN to include data collection with the help of EU missions outside the union. According to British media reports, the Union is also discussing the creation of a Center for Democratic Resilience (CDR) "to counter disinformation from Russia, China and other "unfriendly" countries." Ursula von der Leyen proposed the formation of a European "shield of democracy" in 2024, before the European Parliament elections.

An open threat

In early March, von der Leyen proposed the "Re A rm Europe" plan to strengthen the EU's defense. As part of the initiative, the member States of the Union will allocate up to 800 billion euros for military spending in the coming years. The decision to create a unified intelligence service coincided with the campaign to rearm Europe.

After the start of its military operations and the suspension of American intelligence support for Kiev, Brussels abruptly began to move in the direction of "independent activity" in order not to become completely dependent on Washington. In late August, The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States could well manipulate Ukraine and use access to classified data as one of the "levers of pressure" to persuade Vladimir Zelensky to unfavorable terms for resolving the conflict with Russia. The two countries have been exchanging information since the beginning of the military operation: Kiev was even given access to commercial satellite images purchased by the American government.

Washington caught the Ukrainian allies by surprise: by that time, the French intelligence services had lost about 40% of data on Russian positions near Zaporizhia, and the Polish special service, Agencja Wywiadu, tried to revive the old bilateral communication channels with London, but was refused.

Military expert Boris Jerelievsky told Izvestia that the desire to unite all special services into a single body working "for the benefit" of the European Union is a completely natural and logical decision. Recently, the EU has been moving towards creating a military bloc, transferring almost all political and economic resources to the armed ones.

— In principle, any intelligence service is the same element of preparing for war and the militarization of Europe, as, for example, military construction, expanding the production of shells, armored vehicles and other systems. This is the same important element, the same form of combat support. <...> There is also a definite desire to further consolidate the EU countries in this way. They clearly lack cohesion now, because there are some members of the Union who reject rapid militarization. I think this is another tool to pull them up and connect them to this program," the expert emphasized.

Von der Leyen's initiative also coincided with the launch of the European IRIS project, which will be deployed by 2030 and is expected to compete with Starlink. The program, estimated at 5.7 billion euros, involves not only the creation of reconnaissance satellites, but also the so-called "EU Security College", where European officials will be able to receive information on security issues and other classified data.

The Battle for Espionage Supremacy

According to some experts, the formation of a new agency does not mean that Brussels is trying to create a "European CIA." However, by itself, the European Commission's interference in international intelligence affairs clearly demonstrates the EU's fatigue with Washington's dependence and American information. In this regard, the Trump administration may well regard the situation as an attempt on the "intelligence monopoly" of the United States.

Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada, shared his opinion with Izvestia that, most likely, what is happening in Europe will not seem important to the CIA, since now all forces are focused on the Indo-Pacific region, in particular, China.

— Everything that happens in Europe is of little importance to the CIA. The workforce that was created for the EU is not suitable for China, because this work focuses on knowledge of the country, languages, and so on. In general, today there is this turn "to the east," or rather, in relation to the United States, "to the west." I think they are more willing to rely on the British intelligence and counterintelligence agencies, assuming that they will be "looking at Europe," the expert said.

Vladimir Vasiliev also believes that the United States may take a different approach in this matter — to arrange regime change in Europe in order to strengthen the positions of right-wing parties in Western countries. According to the expert, the new intelligence service of the European Commission may be created in order to track these very "coups" against political leaders in EU governments.

— Today, the Trump administration is raising the question that the CIA should help displace the traditional political elites of European countries. That is, the new task of intelligence is to facilitate the arrival of pro—Trump parties and forces, so to speak. It only seems at first glance that foreign intelligence agencies are only watching Russians. Today, it may be collecting information about US attempts to oust such as von der Leyen, Merz, Macron and all the others," the expert concluded.

Boris Jerelievsky, in turn, is confident that the United States can provide conditional military independence to Europe in order to provoke an armed conflict with Russia. At the same time, America itself will remain on the sidelines. Anyway, due to the decline of the industrial economies of France, Germany, Great Britain and other countries, the EU will purchase weapons from Washington.

— The further Europe formally moves away from the United States, the more realistic the provocation plan becomes. I think that's what Trump himself is aiming for. He is interested in buying American weapons. At the moment, the military-industrial complex of Europe is going through difficult times. I also don't think there are any hints of changes: the United States will remain the main supplier of weapons to the European continent anyway," the expert stated.

Experts agree: Ursula von der Leyen actually claims to be the strategic coordinator of European intelligence. If the new espionage structure, the idea of which many in the EU were unhappy with, proves its effectiveness in practice, the head of the European Commission will secure a lifetime position in leading positions in the administration. If everything goes according to a different scenario and the plan fails, von der Leyen will forever become persona non grata in the EU structures.