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Intelligence Cooperation in Europe, 1990 to the Present
by SIGURD HESS

Abstract

European intelligence cooperation has existed for many years at the NATO institutional level. The treaty of Maastricht in 1991 helped set the agenda for increased security cooperation in Europe, but did not mention intelligence. For the first time ever EU leaders meeting in Cologne in June 1999 requested "the reinforcement of our capabilities in the field of intelligence, ..." The paper addresses the many forms of bilateral and multilateral intelligence cooperation for analysis and collection of intelligence data from imagery, electronic signal interception and human agents and spies. The many obstacles to the development of a European intelligence policy as well as the factors driving the intelligence cooperation are discussed. Whether EU members have the political will and enough financial resources necessary to implement the momentous Helsinki declarations of December 1999 will also set the pace for an European intelligence policy.