COPACO
Encyclopedia
Comitato Parlamentare di Controllo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza e per il Segreto di Stato (Parliamentary Committee for the Intelligence and Security Services and for State Secret Control), is a body of the Italian Parliament deputed to survey and oversee the activities of the Italian intelligence agencies
.
The committee was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.
COPACO is constituted by four Senators and four Deputies, designated proportionally by the Presidents of the two Chambers (the Chamber of Deputies
and the Senate of the Republic
).
The Committee is composed of:
Italian intelligence agencies
Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times since the 1946 birth of the Italian Republic in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control.- 1970s-2007 :...
.
History
Since the end of World War II, Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control.The committee was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.
- In 1977, with Legislative Act n.801 of 24/10/1977, this came after a former chief of SID, Vito MiceliVito MiceliVito Miceli was an Italian general and politician. He was chief of the SIOS , Italian Army Intelligence's Service from 1969 and SID's head from October 18, 1970 to 1974...
, was arrested for "conspiration against the State" (See Golpe BorgheseGolpe BorgheseThe Golpe Borghese was a failed Italian coup d'état allegedly planned for the night of 7 or 8 December 1970. It was named after Junio Valerio Borghese, an Italian World War II commander of the notorious Xª MAS unit, the "Black Prince", convicted of war crimes, but still a hero in the eyes of many...
), and the intelligence agencies were reorganized in a democratic attempt. This re-organization mainly consisted of:- The split of SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles: SISDESISDEServizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica , was the domestic intelligence agency of Italy.With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISDE was replaced by AISI....
(the domestic one) and SISMISISMIServizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007....
(the military one). - The creation of CESISCESISComitato Esecutivo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza was an Italian government committee whose mission was the coordination of all the intelligence sector, and specifically between the two civilian and military intelligence agencies , with the aim to report all the relevant information...
, with a coordination role between the two intelligence agencies and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. - The creation of the Parliamentary Committee, COPACO, to oversee the activities of the two agencies.
- The split of SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles: SISDE
- Since 1 August 2007, with Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies, SISDE, SISMI and CESIS were replaced respectively by AISIAgenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza InternaThe Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna , commonly known as AISI, is the domestic intelligence agency of Italy...
, AISEAgenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza EsternaThe Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna , commonly known as AISE and formerly known as SISMI, is the external intelligence agency of Italy. Operating outside of Italy, the organisation protects Italy's regional interests mainly through the use of HUMINT.-External links:*...
and DISDipartimento delle Informazioni per la SicurezzaThe Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza is a department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy, instituted in 2007 as part of the reform of the Italian security services...
; the COPACO was re-named COPASIR (Comitato Parlamentare per la Sicurezza della Repubblica, Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic) and granted additional oversight and control powers.
Mission
Following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies approved on 1 August 2007, COPACO has the power to:- Dismiss the State Secret, but only if all members of the Committee agree at the unanimity.
- Acquire acts and dossiers from judicial investigations, with the authority to overcome the professional secrecy, both of judicial and banking nature.
- Have free access to intelligence agencies' offices and documentations.
COPACO is constituted by four Senators and four Deputies, designated proportionally by the Presidents of the two Chambers (the Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
and the Senate of the Republic
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
).
The Committee is composed of:
- President: deputy Claudio ScajolaClaudio ScajolaClaudio Scajola is an Italian politician.-Career:A long-time Christian Democrat, he was mayor of Imperia in the Eighties, as his father and his brother had been. When Christian Democracy disbanded, he joined Forza Italia in 1995. He was then elected deputy in 1996 and was national coordinator of...
(2006–2008); senator Francesco Rutelli (2008–2010); deputy Massimo D'AlemaMassimo D'AlemaMassimo D'Alema is an Italian politician. He is also a journalist and a former national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left...
(since 2010) - Vice-president: senator Massimo Brutti
- Secretary: deputy Emanuele FianoEmanuele FianoEmanuele Fiano is a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies for the centre-left Partito Democratico...
- Components: deputies Gianclaudio Bressa and Giampiero D'Alia; senators Milziade Caprili, Alfredo Mantovano e Guido Possa.