Belgian General Information and Security Service

There are currently two intelligence services in Belgium. Because the country is a bilingual federal state each agency carries a Dutch and a French name. The Veiligheid van de Staat or Staatsveiligheid (SV) / Sûreté de l'État (SE) or State Security Service is a civilian agency under the Ministry of Justice. The Algemene Dienst Inlichting en Veiligheid (ADIV) / Service Général du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (SGRS) or General Information and Security Service is the military intelligence service under the Minister of National Defense.

During the 1980's, a number of incidents including the Walloon Brabant supermarket killings, the activities of terrorist groups such as the Combatant Communist Cells and the fascist Westland New Post, and the uncovering of the CIA / NATO sponsored Gladio network brought attention and criticism to the activities and ineffectiveness of the nation’s police and intelligence agencies.

In 1991, following two government enquiries, a permanent parliamentary committee was established to bring these agencies, not previously subject to any outside control, under the authority of Belgium’s federal parliament. Legislation governing the missions and methods of these agencies was put in place in 1998.

http://www.comiteri.be/index_en.html Permanent Committee for the Control of Intelligence Services