The Club de Berne is an intelligence sharing forum between the intelligence services

Intelligence agency

An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...

 of the 27 states

Member State of the European Union

A member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...

 of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 (EU), Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, named after the city of Bern. It is an institution based on voluntary exchange of secrets, experience and views as well as discussing problems. The Club has existed since 1971 and has no secretariat and takes no decisions.

The Counter Terrorist Group (CTG) is an offshoot of the Club and shares terrorism intelligence. It provides threat assessments to EU policy makers and provides a form for expert collaboration. The Group was created after 9/11 to further intelligence sharing cooperation between European intelligence structures. CTG, like the Club, it outside of the EU's institutions but communicates with them via the participation of the EU's Joint Situation Centre (a branch of the European External Action Service

European External Action Service

The European External Action Service is a European Union department that was established following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009...

). Although it is outside the EU, its presidency rotates inline with that of the EU Council presidency

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...

and acts as a formal interface between the Club de Berne and the EU.