] The Intelligence College in Europe (ICE) is an Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental entity, independent of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

institutions, which has been inaugurated on 5 March 2019 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. ICE aims to bring together all the

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

communities (civilian, military, internal, external and technical services) of European countries, national and European decision-makers as well as the academic world in order to stimulate strategic thinking and thus develop a common intelligence culture.

History

In hi
speech on the future of Europe
delivered on 27 September 2017 at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, the

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

, proposed the creation of a "European Intelligence Academy", which would serve as a crucible for the emergence of a common strategic culture. In particular, he states:

"What Europe lacks most today, this Europe of Defense, is a common strategic culture. ..We do not have the same cultures, whether they be parliamentary, historical or political, nor do we have the same sensitivities. And we will not change that in a day. But I propose right now to try to build this culture together, by proposing a European initiative ..aimed at developing this shared strategic culture. ..I would therefore like to see the establishment of a European Intelligence Academy to strengthen the links between our countries through training and exchange activities.

Emmanuel Macron will rename this initiative "Intelligence College in Europe" on the occasion of the inaugural event in Paris on 5 March 2019. This meeting brought together high level representatives of sixty-six

intelligence services An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of ...

from thirty European countries. The thirty countries were the 27 EU Member states as well as

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. On 26 February 2020, twenty-three states met in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

to sign the

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a contract, legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a Heads of agreement ( ...

, which formalises and perpetuates the existence of the Intelligence College in Europe, setting out a governance framework. These 23 states are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Out of the 30 countries initially meeting in Paris on 5 March 2019, seven of them chose to have a partner status, which is less restrictive but still allows them to participate in certain activities: Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, and Switzerland. These countries may eventually become members of the College by signing the Letter of Intent.

Organisation

The Intelligence College Europe operates on a three-tier organisation, comprising: * the Steering Committee – a decision-making body representing the member countries, * the Presidency of the Steering Committee – held by one country in annual rotation and assisted by a Troika comprising both previous and future presidencies, * the Permanent Secretariat – responsible for the implementation of decisions, based at the Ecole Militaire in Paris List of the Presidencies of the Intelligence College in Europe:
Croatia - statement by Director General of SOA, Mr. Daniel Markić
(2020),
United Kingdom - Declaration of Mrs. Beth Sizeland
(2021),
Italy - Message of Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni
(2022), * Romania (2023). List of the directors of the Permanent Secretariat:
Yasmine Gouédard
(2020-2022)
François Fischer
(since 2022)

Missions

The Intelligence College in Europe aims at stimulating strategic thinking, thus developing a common intelligence culture by: * promoting the sharing of experience and professional cultures; * raising awareness of intelligence issues; * building bridges between academia, intelligence communities and the civil society.

Activities

The College proposes three types of activities, organised by member countries: * Thematic Seminars and webinars * Outreach sessions * Academic Programme. In order to pursue these activities, the ICE is supported by a dedicate
Academic Network

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Notes and references

{{Authority control Organizations established in 2019 Intergovernmental organizations Intelligence education Organizations based in Paris