List of intelligence agencies of France
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- DGSE: General Directorate for External Security - Direction générale de la sécurité extérieureDirection générale de la sécurité extérieureThe General Directorate for External Security is France's external intelligence agency. Operating under the direction of the French ministry of defence, the agency works alongside the DCRI in providing intelligence and national security, notably by performing paramilitary and counterintelligence...
. It is the military external intelligence agency, which succeeded to the Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-EspionnageService de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-EspionnageThe Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage was France's external intelligence agency from 6 November 1944 to 2 April 1982 when it was replaced by the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure...
(SDECE) in 1982 (itself preceded by the Direction Générale des Études et RecherchesDirection générale des études et recherchesThe Direction générale des études et recherches , was a division of the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action , the intelligence agency of the Free French Forces, Charles de Gaulle's French government-in-exile in London...
(DGER), dependent of the BCRA. - DCRI:Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence - Direction centrale du renseignement intérieurDirection centrale du renseignement intérieurThe Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur is a French intelligence agency which reports directly to the Ministry of the Interior...
. Founded in 2008 by the merger of the RG and the DSTDirection de la surveillance du territoireThe Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
, it is tasked with counter-espionageCounter-Espionage-Cast:* Warren William as Michael Lanyard* Eric Blore as Jamison* Hillary Brooke as Pamela Hart* Thurston Hall as Insp. Crane* Fred Kelsey as Detective Wesley Dickens* Forrest Tucker as Anton Schugg* Matthew Boulton as Inspector J...
, counter-terrorismCounter-terrorismCounter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
and the surveillance of potential threats on French territory. - DRM: Directorate of Military Intelligence - Direction du renseignement militaireDirection du renseignement militaireThe Direction du renseignement militaire is a French intelligence agency that has the task of collecting and centralizing information for the French Armed Forces. Created in 1992, its role is similar to that of the US DIA, the UK DIS or the Russian GRU...
. It was created by Socialist Interior Minister Pierre JoxePierre JoxePierre Joxe is a former French Socialist politician and has been a member of the Constitutional Council of France since 2001....
in 1992, after the Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, to centralize military intelligence information. - DPSDDPSDDPSD is an initialism for Direction de la Protection et de la Sécurité de la Défense, a French security agency which is part of the Ministry of Defence....
: Directorate for Defense Protection and Security - Direction de la protection et de la sécurite de la défense. It is a military intelligence agency, charged of counter-espionageCounter-Espionage-Cast:* Warren William as Michael Lanyard* Eric Blore as Jamison* Hillary Brooke as Pamela Hart* Thurston Hall as Insp. Crane* Fred Kelsey as Detective Wesley Dickens* Forrest Tucker as Anton Schugg* Matthew Boulton as Inspector J...
, struggle against the MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, etc. It worked with the DSTDirection de la surveillance du territoireThe Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
. - BRGE: Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Brigade - Brigade de renseignement et de guerre électronique.
- SCSSI: Central Service for Information System Security - Service central de la sécurité des systèmes d'informationsService central de la sécurité des systèmes d'informationsSCSSI is responsible for regulation of the use of cryptosystems by the French Government. Users for authentication must make a declaration to the SCSSI that is then verified, and users for privacy purposes are required to have an authorization from SCSSI...
. - DCPJ: Judicial Police - Direction centrale de la police judiciaire.
- CNCIS: National Commission for the Control of Security Interceptions - Commission nationale de contrôle des interceptions de sécurité.
Former agencies
- BCRA: Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'ActionBureau Central de Renseignements et d'ActionThe Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action , commonly referred as the BCRA was the World War II-era forerunner of the SDECE, the French intelligence service...
was an intelligence agency created during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1940. - DST: Directorate of Territorial Security - Direction de la surveillance du territoireDirection de la surveillance du territoireThe Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
. It was an intelligence agency of the Minister of Interior, charged of counter-espionage (in particular in economic matters), and, since the end of the Cold War, also of anti-terrorism issues. It was abolished in 2008 and merged into the DCRIDirection centrale du renseignement intérieurThe Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur is a French intelligence agency which reports directly to the Ministry of the Interior...
. - RG: General Intelligence Directorate - Direction centrale des renseignement généraux. It was the intelligence agency of the French police, directed by the Minister of the InteriorMinister of the Interior (France)The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
. It was charged with overlooking gambling activities, criminal activities, and political radicals (far right and far left). It also used to have as mission to overlook French political parties, but officially is not charged with this anymore. It was merged into the Direction centrale du renseignement intérieurDirection centrale du renseignement intérieurThe Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur is a French intelligence agency which reports directly to the Ministry of the Interior...
in 2008.
See also
- List of (worldwide) intelligence agencies
- Club de BerneClub de BerneThe Club de Berne is an intelligence sharing forum between the intelligence services of the 27 states of the European Union , Norway and Switzerland, named after the city of Bern. It is an institution based on voluntary exchange of secrets, experience and views as well as discussing problems...