Intel sharing

Europe’s failure to share intelligence hampers terror fight

...But in Europe, the barriers are more complex: not only does each individual EU member state have its own domestic sharing restraints, but passing data across borders between 28 countries — some of which were in the Soviet sphere within the last generation, and others with historic ties to Russia — throws up far bigger legal and political hurdles.

“With eastern European countries as EU members, no one wants to share details on sensitive operations. It’s a question of trust,” said Bernard Squarcini, France’s spy chief under former president Nicolas Sarkozy. “Europol is useful to arrest Serbian criminals. But no one wants to disclose details on covert operations, the sources you have infiltrated or taken out of judicial procedures, you want to protect your sources . . .”