L 140/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.5.98 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL COUNCIL DECISION of 27 April 1998 relating to the procedures whereby officials and employees of the General Sec- retariat of the Council may be allowed access to classified information held by the Council (98/319/EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 151(3) thereof, Having regard to the Council’s Rules of Procedure ('), and in particular Article 23 thereof, Having regrd to the declaration in the Annex to the Final Act of the Treaty of Amsterdam on enhanced cooperation between the European Union and the Western European Union whereby ‘with a view to enhanced cooperation between the European Union and the Western European Union, the Conference invites the Council to seek the early adoption of appropriate arrangements for the security clearance of the personnel of the General Sec- retariat of the Council’, Whereas, by Decision No 24 of 30 January 1995, the Secretary-General of the Council adopted measures to protect classified information applicable to the General Secretariat of the Council; Whereas the security regulations must cover not only the physical protection of classified information held by the Council but also authorisation of members of staff to have access to such information; Whereas it is therefore necessary to introduce a procedure for authorising staff of the General Secretariat of the Council required to have access to such information for professional reasons and to restrict such access to author- ised persons only; () OJ L 304, 10. 12. 1993, p. 1. Whereas, in the case of staff of the General Secretariat of the Council, the decision to grant authorisation will be the responsibility of the appointing authority within the meaning of Article 2 of the Staff Regulations and Rules Applicable to Officials and Other Servants, hereinafter referred to as ‘the appointing authority’, after security screening has been carried out by the competent national authorities of the Member States; Whereas this Decision shall have no effect on the rules laid down by the Council regarding transparency, in particular, the Council Decision of 20 December 1993 on public access to documents, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 1. The only persons authorised to have accesss to classi- fied information held by the Council shall be officials and other servants of the General Secretariat of the Council or any person working within the General Secretariat who, by reason of their duties and for the requirements of the service, need to have knowledge of, or to use, such infor- mation. 2. In order to have access to information classified as ‘secret’ and ‘confidential’, the persons referred to in para- graph 1 must have been authorised in accordance with Article 2. 3. Authorisation shall be granted only to persons who have undergone security screening by the competent national authorities of the Member States, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3.