DÉCLASSIFIÉ. The president of the Defense Commission, who has just overseen the annual audit of the French secret services, warns of the new challenges they must face. President (Renaissance) of the Defense Commission in the National Assembly, Jean-Michel Jacques, who chaired until a few months ago the parliamentary delegation on intelligence (DPR), consisting of four deputies and four senators, all bound by national defense secrecy (violation punishable by five years in prison).
A highly supervised mission: these Members of Parliament oversee the government’s actions on intelligence, evaluate public policy in this area, and monitor major security issues. However, they have very limited access to the details of the operations carried out by the so-called inner circle services (DGSE, DGSI, DRM, DRSD, DRM, customs, etc.).
While they have more powers in controlling secret funds than their Western counterparts, the intelligence delegation still has extremely regulated prerogatives and few resources. Whereas German parliamentarians have around fifteen dedicated staff members for monitoring their secret services, their French counterparts have less than two full-time equivalents.
In an exclusive, Le Point had access to the annual report of the DPR, which this year focuses on how the services are reorganizing in the current geopolitical chaos and new threats. Interview.
The Point: Your report highlights the emergence of new risks such as drug trafficking. Are these new priority missions for the DGSE and the DGSI? Jean-Michel Jacques: The scale of drug trafficking requires the mobilization of the entire state apparatus, beyond just the judicial authority, to combat a phenomenon that directly threatens our national security. Faced with increasingly sophisticated means of criminal organizations, coordinated action by intelligence services is crucial to thwart them.
But one threat does not eliminate another. What makes the current period unique is that intelligence services must be on all fronts simultaneously, with a persistent terrorist threat, proliferation of foreign interferences, increasing cyberattacks, etc.
Intelligence services have been requesting for years the legal ability to access encrypted messages. The DPR supports this request, but many parliamentarians see it as a violation of individual liberties. Why this support? The encryption of communications has become the norm, posing a significant challenge to intelligence services that no longer have access to the contents they could previously intercept — when they were not encrypted — under certain conditions and in strict compliance with the 2015 law.
Technological evolution should not blind our services, subjecting them to the goodwill of predominantly foreign platforms that refuse to cooperate. We must reconcile data protection and liberties with the imperative of national security. It’s not about giving a blank check to intelligence services, but finding a balanced way, both legally and technically, to overcome the current impasse.
You delved into the deep reorganization of several services, especially the DGSE or the DRM (Military Intelligence Directorate). How do you assess this? Is the organization of services suitable for current challenges? Faced with the combination of threats, their intertwining, and their hybrid nature, most intelligence services have undertaken deep internal organizational reforms in recent years, based on transparency, cross-functionality, and agility. Services trust each other, cooperate increasingly better, particularly in technical sharing programs.
In the race against technological advancements, the human dimension remains essential. In this regard, the intelligence community is facing a major challenge: attracting the best talents and retaining them in a highly competitive environment, offering genuinely attractive career paths.
In these times of budget cuts and geopolitical crises, does the DPR consider that the services are sufficiently equipped to effectively fulfill their missions? French intelligence has clearly entered a new era. Our services will have to constantly adapt to fulfill the missions assigned to them by the new national strategic review published last summer. The law updating military programming, currently under debate in the National Assembly, will provide them with the necessary means. In today’s world, well-equipped intelligence is essential to protect our democracy and defend our values.
