This is a list of current and former French

intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...

Currently active

*DGSE:

Directorate-General for External Security The Directorate-General for External Security (, , DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 27 November 1943. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intelli ...

– '' Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure''. It is the military foreign intelligence agency, which succeeded the ''

Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or ...

'' (SDECE) in 1982 (itself preceded by the '' Direction Générale des Études et Recherches'' (DGER), dependent on the BCRA. *DGSI: General Directorate for Internal Security – '' Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure''. Founded in 2008 by the merger of the RG and the DST, it is tasked with

counter-espionage Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting ac ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

and the surveillance of potential threats on French territory. *DRM: Directorate of Military Intelligence – '' Direction du renseignement militaire''. It was created by Interior Minister Pierre Joxe in 1992, after the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, to centralize military intelligence information. *TRACFIN : Intelligence Processing and Action Against Clandestine Financial Circuits - ''

Tracfin Tracfin (acronym for ''Traitement du renseignement et action contre les circuits financiers clandestins'', "Intelligence Processing and Action Against Clandestine Financial Circuits in English") is a service of the French Ministry of Finances. I ...

''. Founded in 1990, it is tasked with tackling

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and the financing of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. * DRSD: Directorate of Intelligence and Security of Defense – '' Direction du renseignement et de la sécurité de la Défense''. It is a military intelligence agency, charged with conducting

. *BRGE: Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Brigade – '' Brigade de renseignement''. *DCPJ: Judicial Police – '' Direction centrale de la police judiciaire''. *CNCTR: National Commission for the Control of Security Interceptions – '' Commission nationale de contrôle des techniques de renseignement''. *SCRT: Central Service of Territorial Surveillance - '' Service central de surveillance du territoire'' *SNRP: '' Service national du renseignement pénitentiaire'', a French intelligence agency for carceral security (riot prevention, surveillance of radicalized prisoners for avoid others radicalization, etc.

Former agencies

*'' Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action'' (BCRA) was an intelligence agency created during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1940. *''

Cabinet noir In France, the ''cabinet noir'' (; French for " black room", also known as the "dark chamber" or " black chamber") was a government intelligence-gathering office, usually within a postal service, where correspondence between persons or entities ...

'' More formally, the cabinet du secret des postes. c. 1750. *

Deuxième Bureau The ''Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général'' ("Second Bureau of the General Staff") was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany. ...

: France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany. *DST: Directorate of Territorial Security – '' Direction de la surveillance du territoire''. It was an intelligence agency of the Minister of Interior, charged with conducting counter-espionage (in particular in economic matters), and, since the end of the Cold War, also with counterterrorism issues. It was abolished in 2008 and merged into the DCRI. *RG: General Intelligence Directorate – ''

Direction centrale des renseignements généraux Direction may refer to: *Body relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction *Bearing (navigation) Mathemat ...

''. It was the intelligence agency of the

French police Law enforcement in France is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the ''Municipal Police (France), police municipale''. There are two nation ...

, directed by the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. It was charged with overlooking gambling activities, criminal activities, and political radicals (far right and far left). It also used to have as a mission to oversee French political parties, but officially is not charged with this anymore. It was merged into the ''

Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur The General Directorate for Internal Security (, , DGSI; also known as the Directorate-General for Internal Security in English) is a French security agency. It is charged with counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, countering cybercrime and surv ...

'' in 2008. *''

Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or ...

'' (SDECE), successor to BCRA.

* Alexander, Martin S. "Did the Deuxième Bureau work? The role of intelligence in French defence policy and strategy, 1919–39." ''Intelligence and National Security'' 6.2 (1991): 293-333. * Andrew, Christopher. ''The Secret World: A History of Intelligence'' (2018)pp 902–914. * Andrew, Christopher. "France and the German Menace." in ''Knowing One's Enemies: Intelligence Assessment Before the Two World Wars'' edited by Ernest R. May. (1984). * Armes, Keith. "French Intelligence on the Russian Army on the Eve of the First World War." ''Journal of Military History'' 82.3 (2018). * Bauer, Deborah Susan. ''Marianne is Watching: Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and the Origins of the French Surveillance State'' (2021
online book review
** Bauer, Deborah Susan. "'Marianne is Watching: Knowledge, Secrecy, Intelligence and the Origins of the French Surveillance State (1870–1914)." (PhD Dissertation, UCLA, 2013.
Online
Bibliography pp 536–59. * Chopin, Olivier. "Intelligence reform and the transformation of the state: the end of a French exception." ''Journal of Strategic Studies'' 40.4 (2017): 532-553. * Deacon, Richard. ''The French Secret Service ''(1990). * Forcade, Olivier. ''La République secrète: histoire des services spéciaux français de 1918 à 1939.'' (Paris: Nouveau monde, 2008). * Hayez, Philippe. "'Renseignement': The new French intelligence policy." ''International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence'' 23.3 (2010): 474-486. * Jackson, Peter. "French Military Intelligence responds to the German Remilitarisation of the Rhineland, 1936-A look at French intelligence machinery in 1936." ''Intelligence and National Security'' 22.4 (2007): 546-562. * Jackson, Peter. ''France and the Nazi Menace: Intelligence and Policy Making, 1933-1939'' (2000). * Keiger, John. ''France and the World since 1870'' (2001) ch 4: "French Intelligence" pp 80–109. * Parry, D. L. L. "Clemenceau, Caillaux and the Political Use of Intelligence." ''Intelligence and National Security'' 9#3 (1994): 472-494. * Porch, Douglas. ''The French Secret Services: A History of French Intelligence from the Drefus Affair to the Gulf War'' (Macmillan, 2003). * Warner, Michael. ''The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History'' (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligence agencies of France Government agencies of France

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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. It can be described as t ...

Currently active

Former agencies

See also

Further reading

References