98/319/EC: Council Decision of 27 April 1998 relating to the procedures whereby officials and employees of the General Secretariat of the Council may be allowed access to classified information held by the Council
Date: 1998-04-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Council of the European Union, European official, access to information, confidentiality, consultation of information, power to appoint

L 140/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

12. 5. 98

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 27 April 1998

relating to the procedures whereby officials and employees of the General Sec-
retariat of the Council may be allowed access to classified information held by
the Council

(98/319/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 151(3) thereof,

Having regard to the Council’s Rules of Procedure (1), and
in particular Article 23 thereof,

Having regrd to the declaration in the Annex to the Final
Act of the Treaty of Amsterdam on enhanced cooperation
between the European Union and the Western European
Union whereby ‘with a view to enhanced cooperation
between the European Union and the Western European
Union, the Conference invites the Council to seek the
early adoption of appropriate arrangements
the
security clearance of the personnel of the General Sec-
retariat of the Council',

for

Whereas, by Decision No 24 of 30 January 1995, the
Secretary-General of the Council adopted measures to
protect classified information applicable to the General
Secretariat of the Council;

Whereas the security regulations must cover not only the
physical protection of classified information held by the
Council but also authorisation of members of staff to have
access to such information;

Whereas it is therefore necessary to introduce a procedure
for authorising staff of the General Secretariat of the
Council required to have access to such information for
professional reasons and to restrict such access to author-
ised persons only;

(1) OJ L 304, 10. 12. 1993, p. 1.

Whereas, in the case of staff of the General Secretariat of
the Council, the decision to grant authorisation will be
the responsibility of the appointing authority within the
meaning of Article 2 of the Staff Regulations and Rules
Applicable to Officials and Other Servants, hereinafter
referred to as ‘the appointing authority', after security
screening has been carried out by the competent national
authorities of the Member States;

Whereas this Decision shall have no effect on the rules
laid down by the Council regarding transparency,
in
particular, the Council Decision of 20 December 1993 on
public access to documents,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

1.
The only persons authorised to have accesss to classi-
fied information held by the Council shall be officials and
other servants of the General Secretariat of the Council or
any person working within the General Secretariat who,
by reason of their duties and for the requirements of the
service, need to have knowledge of, or to use, such infor-
mation.

In order to have access to information classified as
2.
‘secret' and ‘confidential', the persons referred to in para-
graph 1 must have been authorised in accordance with
Article 2.

3. Authorisation shall be granted only to persons who
have undergone security screening by the competent
national authorities of the Member States, in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 3.

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Article 2

The appointing authority shall be responsible for

1.
granting the authorisations referred to in Article 1.

The appointing authority shall grant authorisation after
obtaining the opinion of the competent national author-
ities of the Member States on the basis of security clear-
ance carried out in accordance with Articles 3 and 4.

2. Authorisation, which shall be valid for a period of
five years, may not exceed the duration of the tasks on the
basis of which it was granted. It may be renewed by the
appointing authority in accordance with the procedure
referred to in paragraph 1.

Authorisation shall be withdrawn by the appointing
authority where it considers there are justifiable grounds
for doing so. Any decision to withdraw authorisation shall
be notified to the person concerned, who may ask to be
heard by the appointing authority, and to the competent
national authority.

Article 3

The aim of security screening shall be to establish
1.
that there are no objections to allowing the person to have
access to classified information held by the Council.

2.
Security screening shall be carried out with the assis-
tance of the person concerned and at the request of the
appointing authority by the competent national author-
ities of the Member State of which the person subject to
authorisation is a national. Should the person concerned
reside in the territory of another Member State,
the
national authorities concerned may secure the coopera-
tion of the authorities of the State of residence.

3. As part of
the person
concerned shall be required to complete a personal infor-
mation form.

the screening procedure,

4.
The appointing authority shall specify in its request
the type and level of classified information to be made
available to the person concerned, so that the competent
national authorites can carry out the screening process
and give their opinion as to the appropriate level of
authorisation to be granted.

5.
The whole security-screening process together with
the results obtained shall be subject to the relevant rules
and regulations in force in the Member State concerned,
including those concerning appeals.

Article 4

1. Where the competent national authorities of
the
Member States give a positive opinion, the appointing
authority may grant the person concerned authorisation.

2. A negative opinion by the competent national
authorities shall be notified to the person concerned, who
may ask to be heard by the appointing authority. Should
it consider it necessary, the appointing authority may ask
the competent national authorities for any further clarifi-
cation they can provide. If
the negative opinion is
confirmed, authorisation shall not be granted.

Article 5

All persons granted authorisation within the meaning of
Article 2 shall, at the time the authoristaion is granted
and at regular intervals thereafter, receive any necessary
instructions concerning the protection of classified infor-
mation and the means of ensuring such protection. Such
persons shall sign a declaration acknowledging receipt of
the instructions and give an undertaking to obey them.

Article 6

The appointing authority shall

1.
take any measure
necessary in order to implement this Decision, in partic-
ular as regards the rules governing access to the list of
authorised persons.

if

the

service,

required by

Exceptionaly,

2.
the
appointing authority may, after giving the national
competent authorities notification and provided there is
no reaction from them within a month, grant temporary
authorisation for a period not exceeding three months,
pending the outcome of
the screening referred to in
Article 3.

Article 7

This Decision shall be reviewed two years after the date
on which it becomes applicable, on the basis of a report
from the Secretary-General.

Article 8

This Decision shall take effect on the date of its publica-
tion.

It shall apply nine months after it takes effect, except for
Articles 2, 3 and 4, which shall apply on the date on
which it is adopted.

Done at Luxembourg, 27 April 1998.

For the Council

The President

R. COOK