Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2019/1963Show full title

CHAPTER 4 U.K. VISITS IN CONNECTION WITH CLASSIFIED CONTRACTS

Article 7 U.K. Basic principles

1. Where the Commission, contractors or subcontractors require access to information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or SECRET UE/EU SECRET on each other's premises for the performance of a classified contract, visits shall be arranged in liaison with the NSAs/DSAs or any other competent security authority concerned.

2. The visits referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to the following requirements:

(a) the visit shall have an official purpose related to a classified contract let by the Commission;

(b) any visitor shall hold a PSC at the required level and have a need-to-know in order to access EUCI provided or generated in the performance of a classified contract let by the Commission.

Article 8 U.K. Requests for visits

1. Visits by contractors to other contractors' facilities, or to Commission premises, that involve access to information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or SECRET UE/EU SECRET shall be arranged in accordance with the following procedure:

(a) the security officer of the facility sending the visitor shall complete all relevant parts of the request for visit (RFV) form and submit the request to the facility's NSA/DSA. A template of the RFV form is set out in Annex III, Appendix C;

(b) the sending facility's NSA/DSA needs to confirm the visitor's PSC before submitting the RFV to the host facility's NSA/DSA (or the Commission security authority if the visit is to Commission premises);

(c) the security officer of the sending facility shall then obtain from its NSA/DSA the reply of the host facility's NSA/DSA (or the Commission security authority) either authorising or denying the RFV;

(d) an RFV is considered approved if no objections are raised until five working days before the date of the visit.

2. Visits by Commission officials to contractor facilities that involve access to information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or SECRET UE/EU SECRET shall be arranged in accordance with the following procedure:

(a) the visitor shall complete all relevant parts of the RFV form and submit it to the Commission security authority;

(b) the Commission security authority shall confirm the PSC of the visitor before submitting the RFV to the host facility's NSA/DSA;

(c) the Commission security authority shall obtain a reply from the host facility's NSA/DSA either authorising or denying the RFV;

(d) an RFV is considered approved if no objections are raised until five working days before the date of the visit.

3. An RFV may cover either a single visit or recurring visits. In the case of recurring visits, the RFV may be valid for up to one year from the start date requested.

4. The validity of any RFV shall not exceed the validity of the PSC of the visitor.

5. As a general rule, an RFV should be submitted to the host facility's competent security authority at least 15 working days before the date of the visit.

Article 9 U.K. Visit procedures

1. Before allowing visitor to have access to EUCI, the security office of the host facility shall comply with all the visit-related security procedures and rules laid down by its NSA/DSA.

2. Visitors shall prove their identity upon arrival at the host facility by presenting a valid ID card or passport. That identification information shall correspond to the information supplied in the RFV.

3. The host facility shall ensure that records are kept of all visitors, including their names, the organisation they represent, the date of expiry of the PSC, the date of the visit and the names of the persons visited. Such records shall be retained for a period of at least five years or longer if required by the national rules and regulations of the country where the host facility is located.

Article 10 U.K. Visits arranged directly

1. In the context of specific projects, the relevant NSAs/DSAs and the Commission security authority may agree on a procedure whereby visits for a specific classified contract can be arranged directly between the visitor's security officer and the security officer of the facility to be visited. A template of the form to be used for this purpose is set out in Annex III, Appendix C. Such an exceptional procedure shall be set out in the PSI or other specific arrangements. In such cases, the procedures set out in Article 8 and Article 9(1) shall not apply.

2. Visits involving access to information classified RESTREINT UE/EU RESTRICTED shall be arranged directly between the sending and receiving entity without the need to follow the procedures set out in Article 8 and Article 9(1).