The European Security Office is supposed to be the European Union's foremost intelligence and internal security organization. Since its founding during the 2010s, the ESO has grown to the size - though not capability - of the Central Intelligence Corporation, and has been the recipient of generous EU Commission funds. Yet for all its money and influence, the ESO continues to be bedevilled by incompetence, corruption, leakage, patronage, and mistrust. As a new organization, it has not had the time to build up its skills or to create long-term espionage networks, nor has it been able to forge co-operative links with foreign agencies, most of whom view it as an information sieve that constantly leaks in all directions. Eurosecur's arch-rival is the Joint Intelligence Agency, which pools together the skills of the various national governments, albeit in a minimal fashion. The bitterness between the two groups is extreme, to the point of endangering (supra) national security in the EU. European governments generally view the ESO as bumbling eurocrats and arrogant Young Turks all too eager to enforce Commission directives at the expense of individual national interests. In this they are quite correct, for Eurosecur works on behalf of Europa as a whole and tends to shy away from political infighting, relying on the Commission to protect its independence.

+++analysis of eurosecur's successes seems to indicate that they're more proficient at spying than they let on. perhaps it's in their best interests to have national governments believe them to be incompetent, so as to better gain control over Europe's intelligence apparatus. from personal experience I know for a fact that their signals intelligence is superior+++[Krypter]+++

Today the ESO - more commonly known by its truncated German-derived name of Eurosecur (Eurosekuritatenkorps) - operates across Eurasia as a top-secret espionage organization. As part of Directorate-General-14, the ESO is responsible to the European Commission and is independent of national governments.

+++Hence they can get away with a whole lot more than a national gov, considering that there are no rival gov agencies to keep them in check. mind you, the Europarliament is supposed to keep a firm eye on them, but those EMPs are convinced Eurosecur is not a threat to anyone+++[Shenkiller]+++

+++Garbage. Eurosekur's cherry-picked the best from the German BND (Bundesnacrichtendienst - the German intelligence Service) and the Federal Information Security Agency (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik [BSI], which is also Department 62 of the BND), so it looks like the ESO has become a pet German tool to exert covert power throughout Europa. Bet ya three diamond-bursters that Eurosekur's cracked Joint Intelligence databanks and is pumping elections in Padania as we speak+++[Enorg]+++

BENEFITS
As with the American Apparatus, membership in the ESO brings a lot of bureaucratic hurdles. To add insult to injury, Eurosecur's reputation for incompetence often hinders regular investigators and officers in the field. [Members get Reputation: Bad (Intelligence Community), but also receive Contacts +1 for their connections within same community.]