These rules establish the security measures to be applied to all information which is processed by or through Europol.

Communication channels between Europol and the national units of the Member States, referred to in Article 8 of the Europol Decision, shall provide a level of protection which is equivalent to the level offered by these measures. A common standard for these communication channels shall be approved by the Security Committee.

The Annex sets out an overview of the Europol classification levels, as referred to in Article 10, and the equivalent markings currently applied by the Member States to information subject to those classification levels. When a Member State informs the other Member States and Europol of any changes in its national provisions on classification levels or in the equivalent markings, Europol shall elaborate a revised version of the overview reproduced in the Annex. At least once a year the Security Committee shall ascertain whether the overview is up to date.