BERLIN — The European Union is working to establish an intelligence unit under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a move that could raise questions about the division of sovereignty between national capitals and Brussels on a key national security issue.
The idea was first reported by the Financial Times on Nov. 11 and subsequently confirmed to other publications by EU spokespeople.
The new unit will aim to better coordinate intelligence information collected by national services and the European Union itself. This would help inform joint positions as the EU maneuvers on the global stage, the proposal goes.
An EU spokesperson told the German press agency DPA that the plans were still in a “very embryonic” stage and that the final unit would likely consist only of a handful of experts recruited from national agencies. No specific timeline has been set yet, according to a commission spokesperson cited by FT.
The plan, which Financial Times reports has not yet been coordinated with the EU’s 27 member countries, is likely to bring fierce debate about authorities and sovereignty. The EU already has an intelligence unit, which is housed in its External Action Service — effectively, the bloc’s foreign ministry — whose officials are reportedly opposed to the idea of the new unit directly under von der Leyen. They have voiced concerns that the office may duplicate the work of their Intelligence and Situation Centre.
National security is explicitly reserved as a national issue under the EU’s key treaties. While the war in Ukraine has provided an impetus for European integration in defense, member countries’ capitals continue to guard these areas of sovereignty.
Pushback from member states seems likely, not least because intelligence sharing has long been a touchy subject given the differing political allegiances across the bloc, with some members maintaining at least lukewarm relations with Russia.
Linus Höller is Defense News’ Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds a master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.
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