For the purpose of this Chapter, the following definitions apply:

1. (1)

   ‘authorisation for access to EUCI’ means a decision by the Commission Security Authority taken on the basis of an assurance given by a competent authority of a Member State that a Commission official, other servant or seconded national expert may, provided his ‘need-to-know’ has been determined and he has been appropriately briefed on his responsibilities, be granted access to EUCI up to a specified level (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above) until a specified date; the individual thus described is said to be ‘security authorised’.

2. (2)

   ‘personnel security authorisation’ is the application of measures to ensure that access to EUCI is granted only to individuals who have:

   1. (a)

      a need-to-know;

   2. (b)

      been security authorised to the relevant level, where appropriate; and

   3. (c)

      been briefed on their responsibilities.

3. (3)

   ‘Personnel Security Clearance’ (PSC) means a statement by a competent authority of a Member State which is made following completion of a security investigation conducted by the competent authorities of a Member State and which certifies that an individual may, provided his ‘need-to-know’ has been determined and he has been appropriately briefed on his responsibilities, be granted access to EUCI up to a specified level (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above) until a specified date;

4. (4)

   ‘Personnel Security Clearance Certificate’ (PSCC) means a certificate issued by a competent authority establishing that an individual holds a valid security clearance or a security authorisation issued by the Commission Security Authority and which shows the level of EUCI to which that individual may be granted access (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above), the period of validity of the relevant security clearance or authorisation and the date of expiry of the certificate itself.

5. (5)

   ‘security investigation’ means the investigative procedures conducted by the competent authority of a Member State in accordance with its national laws and regulations in order to obtain an assurance that nothing adverse is known which would prevent an individual from being granted a security clearance up to a specified level (CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above).