V. EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Where permissible under national laws and regulations, security clearance granted by a competent national authority of a Member State for access to national classified information may, for a temporary period pending the granting of a PSC for access to EUCI, allow access by national officials to EUCI up to the equivalent level specified in the table of equivalence in Appendix B where such temporary access is required in the interests of the Union. NSAs shall inform the Security Committee where national laws and regulations do not permit such temporary access to EUCI. For reasons of urgency, where duly justified in the interests of the service and pending completion of a full security investigation, the GSC Appointing Authority may, after consulting the NSA of the Member State of whom the individual is a national and subject to the outcome of preliminary checks to verify that no adverse information is known, grant a temporary authorisation for GSC officials and other servants to access EUCI for a specific function. Such temporary authorisations shall be valid for a period not exceeding 6 months and shall not permit access to information classified TRÈS SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET. All individuals who have been granted a temporary authorisation shall acknowledge in writing that they have understood their obligations in respect of protecting EUCI and the consequences if EUCI is compromised. A record of such a written acknowledgement shall be kept by the GSC. When an individual is to be assigned to a position that requires a security clearance at one level higher than that currently possessed by the individual, the assignment may be made on a provisional basis, provided that: the compelling need for access to EUCI at a higher level shall be justified, in writing, by the individual’s superior; access shall be limited to specific items of EUCI in support of the assignment; the individual holds a valid PSC or authorisation for access to EUCI; action has been initiated to obtain authorisation for the level of access required for the position; satisfactory checks have been made by the competent authority that the individual has not seriously or repeatedly infringed security regulations; the assignment of the individual is approved by the competent authority; and a record of the exception, including a description of the information to which access was approved, shall be kept by the registry or subordinate registry responsible. The above procedure shall be used for one-time access to EUCI at one level higher than that to which the individual has been security cleared. Recourse to this procedure shall not be made on a recurring basis. In very exceptional circumstances, such as missions in hostile environments or during periods of mounting international tension when emergency measures require it, in particular for the purposes of saving lives, Member States and the Secretary-General may grant, where possible in writing, access to information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or SECRET UE/EU SECRET to individuals who do not possess the requisite security clearance, provided that such permission is absolutely necessary and there are no reasonable doubts as to the loyalty, trustworthiness and reliability of the individual concerned. A record shall be kept of this permission describing the information to which access was approved. In the case of information classified TRÈS SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET, this emergency access shall be confined to Union nationals who have been authorised access to either the national equivalent of TRÈS SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET or information classified SECRET UE/EU SECRET. The Security Committee shall be informed of cases when recourse is made to the procedure set out in paragraphs 36 and 37. Where national laws and regulations of a Member State stipulate more stringent rules with respect to temporary authorisations, provisional assignments, one-time access or emergency access by individuals to classified information, the procedures foreseen in this Section shall be implemented only within any limitations set forth in the relevant national laws and regulations. The Security Committee shall receive an annual report on recourse to the procedures set out in this Section.

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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.