Fusion Centres in the European Union

The Institutions of Information Sharing Regarding Criminal Activities and Security in the European Union

Abstract

Complexity of the security challenges and recent threats that jeopardise the European Union make it unavoidable to put information gathered by the security and intelligence services on the table of policy makers quickly, securely and effectively. Epicentres of the synergies are the fusion centres, which were originally created as public bodies.
The European Union may provide effective contribution to the security of the member states and the community as a whole by operating centres of information sharing at
Union level. When examining the duties and responsibilities of the EU agencies, we can ascertain that several EU bodies bear the characteristics of fusion centres. However,
due to the constitutional settlement of the EU and the current level of integration, such fusion centres differ from that of the Member States in many respects. Common
security has a growing influence on the Union agendas, while the Member States follow a careful method of the cooperation in this regard. This duality may lead to tensions among Member States with different vision on the future of the integration (federalist or pro-sovereignty) or even main fractures. It would be highly desirable to avoid such difficulties having regard to the pan-European feature of interest of security.