Parliamentary Oversight of Security and Intelligence Agencies in the European Union

Given all the news recently about the U.S. and British intelligence services with their well earned scorn for going a bit far and then some in their efforts to see all and know all, I was out hunting new stories to learn about the situation in other areas. That's where I came across this. It's a 2011 report which goes into the structure, organization, purposes and general oversight of a good portion of the intelligence community in the European Union.

Written before the current scandals, it shows a cleaner look at the topic than much of what is coming out just recently here with the agenda driven pieces of precious weeks. it is PDF.

This study evaluates the oversight of national security and intelligence agencies by parliaments and specialised non-parliamentary oversight bodies, with a view to identifying good practices that can inform the European Parliament’s approach to strengthening the oversight of Europol, Eurojust, Frontex and, to a lesser extent, Sitcen. The study puts forward a series of detailed recommendations (including in the field of access to classified information) that are formulated on the basis of indepth assessments of: (1) the current functions and powers of these four bodies; (2) existing arrangements for the oversight of these bodies by the European Parliament, the Joint Supervisory Bodies and national parliaments; and (3) the legal and institutional frameworks for parliamentary and specialised oversight of security and intelligence agencies in EU Member States and other major democracies.

Source PDF File

The reading is a bit dry, but then most really informative things are, aren't they? For those looking for more perspective and context on world wide goings on within this general area of life, it's a small bit to get started on seeing how it works in the EU.

Ouch.. I guess if it's not dumping on US Intelligence...it's not worth reading. Hopefully when people get done castrating the United States...they can look around and realize..We didn't invent half this stuff being done or used. We learned it from other nations that are still very much doing it, day in and day out, 24/7.

As I said in the OP.....Those nations screaming loudest? Google their national intelligence services and see just what they have, how large they are and what they DO. Germany is among the most capable international security service in the world today, after being a stumbling screw up that could barely predict a bad outcome to a fast food lunch order just a number of years ago.

To hear Germany speak? They are innocent babes in the woods being spied on by those nasty, evil Americans....While the BND spies on everyone else to see if their B.S. babbling about US spying is hving the intended effect.

Sometimes..the ease by which the public is fed disinformation to shape perception is funny. Sometimes, it's just tragic...as it is now.