MI5 and MI6 could be forced to share their intelligence with the rest of Europe under new proposals from the EU.

New European spying proposals 'threaten British security'
MI5 and MI6 could be forced to share their intelligence with the rest of Europe under new proposals from the EU.

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels and Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:04PM BST 07 Aug 2008
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Under the plans, seen by the Daily Telegraph, all countries would feed secret information into a central intelligence unit so that any member state can use it.
But the proposals risk hard won intelligence gathered by British agents being leaked by less scrupulous security services, particularly in the former Communist states of Eastern Europe.
Although the Government has contributed to the proposals being drawn up, Britain's security services are likely to put up stiff opposition to the plans.
Historically British intelligence officers have enjoyed a good relationship with their US counterparts, regularly exchanging information particularly in the fight against terrorism.
However, there has been a degree of mistrust between the British authorities and European security agencies. In the 1990s the French intelligence service was blamed for leaking information shared by MI6 to the Serbian military.
One senior security source told the Daily Telegraph: "We have well-worked principles about how we share information using bi-lateral relationships built up over many years.
"We share information whenever we need to do so and while the idea of dumping everything in a big pool may have a superficial attraction, we would want to know that everyone was contributing equally and the information shared was properly protected."
The document from the EU Future Group is expected to form the basis of legislation next year and calls on countries to abandon the "principle of confidentiality" which has governed the sharing of intelligence for decades.
The proposals stop short of calling for a European spy agency but say there is a need for "increased synergies between police and security intelligence services."
It suggests a network of "anti-terrorist centres" in each country co-ordinated by SitCen, the European Union's intelligence assessment centre in Brussels.
Other proposals suggest standardising police surveillance techniques and extending the sharing of DNA and fingerprint databases to include CCTV video footage and material gathered by "spy drones".
The plans are based on the idea that the EU can do better than national governments with the report adding: "It appears that this sector cannot be managed politically by individual member states."
It is also suggests that the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF), which currently only involves France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, should become an EU body.
The proposal will step up pressure on the UK to allow the deployment of armed foreign police officers in Britain during "crisis" situations, including public order disturbances at international summits.
Other proposals include the formation of a paramilitary police force which can be deployed by a Brussels "mission command" in international hotspots outside the EU's borders.
The confidential 53-page document, called European Home Affairs in an Open World, sets out plans for an EU programme of security measures from 2010 to 2014.
It has been drafted by a top-level group consisting of justice ministers from Germany, Portugal, Slovenia, France, the Czech Republic and Sweden as well as the European Commission.
The plans have alarmed both the Conservatives and civil libertarians as both an erosion of national sovereignty and a threat to freedom.
Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "This report reveals the enormous scope of Brussels' ambitions for EU control over vital areas of national security policy. While practical co-operation between EU partners is important - the Government must resolutely resist any attempt to fetter British control over this important policy area."
Government sources said they were still considering the proposals but were keen to see greater co-operation in gathering intelligence at European borders.
A Home Office spokesman said: "The UK has followed the workings of the Future Group and has fed in where possible.
"The report contains some useful ideas regarding how EU countries can cooperate on global issues such as combating terrorism."