In 2028, the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE) will leave its historic site on Boulevard Mortier, in the north of Paris, to settle in Vincennes.

In a building twice the size, more modern and more suited to today's needs, particularly in terms of cyber defense.

DGSE agents will leave their headquarters on Boulevard Mortier, in the north of Paris, to settle in a brand new barracks with ultra-modern facilities, on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes.

This move, scheduled for 2028, was decided by Emmanuel Macron who came to announce it in person on Thursday to the officers of the "Centrale", this old barracks which adjoins the Tourelles swimming pool, hence the popularized nickname "the Swimming pool" by the various spy films and novels.

This is where the historic headquarters of the French foreign intelligence services was set up in 1945, after the Liberation.

Arrangements constrained by the original architecture

Since then, it has been modernized many times, with the construction of a large central tower in the 1970s. More recently, in 1997, a second plot was added, on the other side of the boulevard, connected to the building of the General Directorate by a long underground with escalators.

But the places remain extremely constrained by the original architecture of the buildings, which had not been designed to house a large modern service, capable of using all current means of collecting and exploiting intelligence.

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The number of agents has doubled in 30 years

Over the years, the number of secret agents has also increased a lot, it has even doubled in 30 years.

In 1991, the DGSE had 3,500 officers.

Today, they are more than 7,000.

Above all, the work of the DGSE has become terribly complex.

Today's missions require the systematic integration of cyber interception capabilities.

Specialists from different departments of the service must also work together in the same room.

Overcrowded offices have multiplied, with wires and electrical connections in all directions, which could not last any longer.

More than just moving

The idea presented by the Director General Bernard Emié to the President of the Republic and to the Minister of Defense Florence Parly is much more than a simple move. In fact, it is a question of providing the DGSE with a command tool that is up to its ambitions and, above all, to current threats. Because between terrorism and the rise of new states such as Turkey, China, Iran or even Russia, powerful structures must be put in place, capable of providing technical access to all the other agencies of first circle of the intelligence community: the DGSI for the Interior, the Military Intelligence Directorate (DRM), the Defense Intelligence and Security Directorate (DRSD) or the Cyber ​​Command for the Armies.

The Vincennes site will cover 20 hectares, twice the size of the current building, but will above all be equipped with IT capabilities that are those of the future. The cost of the project is 1.3 billion euros.