European intelligence governance has undergone unique and important changes over the last decade. The steady growth of supranational intelligence structures, the role of supranational/multilateral European forums for judicial review and legislative oversight, the renewed posture of national European intelligence services and the sporadic privatization of intelligence are only a few cases in point. Students interested in exploring matters of European intelligence governance lack sufficiently accurate tools to guide their research endeavors. The unique European political landscape defies (or requires at least a more prudent application of) key concepts of contemporary intelligence studies (e.g. intelligence, liaison, oversight). Few authors have tried to map out the requirements, challenges and promises of a distinct ‘European school of intelligence studies’. Naturally, the goal cannot be to promote an ethno-centric understanding of this discipline but to provide suitable references for future inquiries into unique and under-analyzed intelligence contexts outside of UKUSA. It is against this backdrop that this paper scouts the territory and makes recommendations for future research.
