In December 1999 in Helsinki the European Council decided to develop more effective European military capabilities with a view to undertaking the full range of Petersberg tasks in support of the CFSP. In order to achieve this goal, by the year 2003 the Union was to
be able to rapidly deploy units of about 50 000 – 60 000 troops which should be self-sustaining, including the necessary command, strategic reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities. The first steps towards such an autonomous intelligence capability have already been taken in the framework of the WEU and the standing Political and Security Committee. Cooperation among intel
...[+++]ligence services within the EU seems essential on the grounds that, firstly, a common security policy which did not involve the secret services would not make sense and, secondly, it would have numerous professional, financial and political advantages. It would also accord better with the idea of the EU as a partner on an equal footing with the United States and could bring together all the Member States in a system which complied fully with the ECHR.
Une coopération entre services de renseignements de l'UE apparaît indispensable car, d'une part, une politique commune de sécurité excluant les services secrets serait absurde et, d'autre part, cela comporterait de nombreux avantages d'ordre professionnel, financier et politique. Cela serait en outre conforme à l'idée d'un partenariat à égalité de droits avec les États–Unis et pourrait regrouper l'ensemble des États membres au sein d'un système mis sur pied dans le respect de la convention des droits de l'homme. Un contrôle par le Parlement européen devrait dans ce cas naturellement être assuré.
