1.An individual shall only be granted access to EUCI after
his need-to-know has been determined;
he has been briefed on the security rules for protecting EUCI and the relevant security standards and guidelines, and has acknowledged his responsibilities with regard to protecting such information;
for information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL and above, he has been security authorised to the relevant level or is otherwise duly authorised by virtue of his functions in accordance with national laws and regulations.
2.All individuals whose duties may require them to have access to EUCI classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above shall be security authorised to the relevant level before being granted access to such EUCI. The individual concerned shall consent in writing to being submitted to the personnel security clearance procedure. Failure to do so shall mean that the individual cannot be assigned to a post, function or task which involves access to information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above.
3.Personnel security clearance procedures shall be designed to determine whether an individual, taking into account his loyalty, trustworthiness and reliability, may be authorised to access EUCI.
4.The loyalty, trustworthiness and reliability of an individual for the purposes of being security cleared for access to information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above shall be determined by means of a security investigation conducted by the competent authorities of a Member State in accordance with its national laws and regulations.
5.The Commission Security Authority shall be solely responsible for liaising with the national security authorities (‘NSAs’) or other competent national authorities in the context of all security clearance issues. All contacts between Commission services and their staff and the NSAs and other competent authorities shall be conducted through the Commission Security Authority.