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

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 (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 regard 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 for the security clearance of the personnel of the General Secretariat of the Council`,
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 authorised persons only;
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,