Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday revealed that the German intelligence agency helped the NSA monitor the French presidential palace and foreign ministry officials as well as members of the European Commission.

The Germany mass daily said the country’s BND foreign intelligence agency helped the NSA perform “political espionage” by watching “top officials at the French foreign ministry, the Elysée Palace and the European Commission”,

“The heart [of the problem] is political espionage of European neighbours and institutions of the European Union,” the paper reported, citing a source with knowledge of BND procedures.

Meanwhile, Bild reported this week that Angela Merkel’s office was informed in 2008 – during her first term – of Berlin’s involvement in US economic espionage.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung also reported that espionage on companies took place in isolated cases, as the United States searched for “information on illegal exports”.