An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis , and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement , national security , military , public safety , and foreign policy objectives.
7-648: The EU Intelligence and Situation Centre ( EU INTCEN ) is a "civilian intelligence function" of the European Union (EU). Structurally, it is a directorate of the External Action Service (EEAS) and reports directly to the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy . Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union , among other things, expressly states that "national security remains
14-547: Is known as intelligence analysis or intelligence assessment . Intelligence agencies can provide the following services for their national governments. There is a distinction between "security intelligence" and "foreign intelligence". Security intelligence pertains to domestic threats, including terrorism and espionage. Foreign intelligence involves information collection relating to the political, or economic activities of foreign states. Some agencies have been involved in assassination , arms trafficking , coups d'état , and
21-847: 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. At that time, the centre's mission was: At the request of High Representative Javier Solana , the Council of the European Union agreed in June 2004 to establish within SITCEN a Counter Terrorist Cell. This Cell
28-967: The SIAC, both civilian and military contributions are used to produce all-source intelligence assessments. The EU INTCEN and the EUMS Intelligence Directorate are the main clients of the European Union Satellite Centre , which provides satellite imagery and analysis. The EU command and control (C2) structure is directed by political bodies composed of member states ' representatives, and generally requires unanimous decisions. As of April 2019: Intelligence agency Means of information gathering are both overt and covert and may include espionage , communication interception , cryptanalysis , cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. The assembly and propagation of this information
35-551: The authority of the EU's High Representative . As of 2019, the EU INTCEN is composed of three Divisions: The total number of EU INTCEN staff in 2012 and 2013 was close to 70. Since 2007, 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
42-641: The sole responsibility of each Member State". EU INTCEN's analytical products are based on intelligence from the EU Member States' intelligence and security services . The EU INTCEN has its roots in the European Security and Defence Policy 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, decided to use the existing Joint Situation Centre to start producing intelligence based classified assessments. In 2002,
49-504: 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 . In 2012, it was officially renamed European Union Intelligence Analysis Centre (EU INTCEN). It assumed its current name in 2015. Since January 2011, the EU INTCEN is part of the European External Action Service (EEAS) under
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