VI. DESTRUCTION OF EUCI

EU classified documents which are no longer required may be destroyed, without prejudice to the relevant rules and regulations on archiving. Documents subject to registration in accordance with Article 9(2) shall be destroyed by the responsible registry on instruction from the holder or from a competent authority. The logbooks and other registration information shall be updated accordingly. For documents classified SECRET UE/EU SECRET or TRÈS SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET, destruction shall be performed in the presence of a witness who shall be cleared to at least the classification level of the document being destroyed. The registrar and the witness, where the presence of the latter is required shall sign a destruction certificate, which shall be filed in the registry. The registry shall keep destruction certificates of TRÈS SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET documents for a period of at least 10 years and of documents CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL and SECRET UE/EU SECRET for a period of at least five years. Classified documents, including those classified RESTREINT UE/EU RESTRICTED, shall be destroyed by methods which meet relevant Union or equivalent standards or which have been approved by Member States in accordance with national technical standards so as to prevent reconstruction in whole or in part. The destruction of computer storage media used for EUCI shall be in accordance with paragraph 37 of Annex IV. In the event of an emergency, if there is an imminent risk of unauthorised disclosure EUCI shall be destroyed by the holder in such a way that it cannot be reconstructed in whole or in part. The originator and originating registry shall be informed of the emergency destruction of registered EUCI.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.