Comitato Esecutivo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza (Executive Committee for Intelligence and Security Services) was an Italian government committee whose mission was the coordination of all the intelligence sector, and specifically between the two civilian and military intelligence agencies (respectively, SISDE and SISMI), with the aim to report all the relevant information collected by it to the political Authorities, represented by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Since the end of World War II, Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control.
The committee was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.
In 1977, with Legislative Act n.801 of 24/10/1977, this came after a former chief of SID, Vito Miceli, was arrested for "conspiration against the State" (See Golpe Borghese), and the intelligence agencies were reorganized in a democratic attempt. This re-organization mainly consisted of:
The split of SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles: SISDE (the domestic one) and SISMI (the military one).
The creation of the Parliamentary Committee, COPACO, to oversee the activities of the two agencies.
Since 1 August 2007, with Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies, SISDE, SISMI and CESIS were replaced respectively by AISI, AISE and DIS,[1] and the COPACO was granted additional oversight and control powers.
CESIS was a collective body, chaired by the President of Council, and composed of the main political, public security, military and intelligence agency top authorities:
The Commanding Generals of the Arma dei Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza (in Italy, the two top authorities of the Arma dei Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza).
The Directors of SISDE and SISMI.
The Secretary General of CESIS.
The Secretary General of CESIS was not only a member, but, as the chief of General Secretariat of CESIS (see below), he also acted as the Secretary of this body.
