La réforme des services de renseignement civils français

Abstract

Home office intelligence services, RG (founded in 1911) and DST (founded in 1944), have not been subject to deep structural reforms despite geopolitical disruptions which have taken place since Cold War. However, their merger has frequently been evoked. In early 1990, different and successive Home Ministers have − unsuccessfully − tried to merge RG and DST within a Directorate General of Internal Security. Nicolas Sarkozy’s election as the Head of State has allowed engaging such a move. As a matter of fact, The President of the Republic had this project in mind since his first occupancy of the Home Office, in 2002. The creation of the Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI) shall allow aligning stronger − thus more efficient means, with a unity in commandment which should reduce reaction respite and allow informing authorities on a more exhaustive mode. This reform however presents certain gaps. The SCTIP and the UCLAT have not been taken into account. France is yet far from having succeeded in deeply reforming its intelligence services. This first step, which only applies to civil intelligence, is however symbolic. It is the sign of the consciousness that our agencies must be adapted to new emerging threats and that our structures are no longer adapted.