European Strategic Intelligence: How Far Integration?

In the light of international and European pressures for greater cooperation in exchange of information, this paper attempts to assess the prospects for strong integration of the underlying information methodologies and systems and discusses the potential consequences of such system integration for risk assessment and security governance. The author draws on work by financial market analysts as well as on the criminological literature, arguing that there is a danger that the systemic integration of separate public and private intelligence functions would narrow perspectives to the point that minor risks could be over-emphasised and major vulnerabilities overlooked. He concludes that, with regard to the architecture of strategic intelligence best capable of informing and supporting policy, a multiplicity of loosely linked information sources and methodologies, connected though an ‘arms length’ cooperation structure, remains best for the European Union. Ironically, the capability to construct high-quality strategic intelligence may be safeguarded by the apparently ‘bad’ old habits of each agency constructing an information system fit for its own specific purpose. Fortunately, those ‘bad’ habits may be underpinned by certain structural conditions, briefly explored here through the literature on security governance.