17.3.2015 Official Journal of the European Union L 72/41 COMMISSION DECISION (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 of 13 March 2015 on Security in the Commission THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 249 thereof, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Having regard to the Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union annexed to the Treaties, and in particular Article 18 thereof, Whereas: (1) The objective of security within the Commission is to enable the Commission to operate in a safe and secure environment by establishing a coherent, integrated approach as regards its security, providing appropriate levels of protection for persons, assets and information commensurate with identified risks, and ensuring efficient and timely delivery of security. The Commission, like other international bodies, faces major threats and challenges in the field of security, in particular as regards terrorism, cyberattacks and political and commercial espionage. The European Commission has entered into instruments on security matters for its principal sites with the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy (). These instruments confirm that the Commission is responsible for its security. In order to ensure security of persons, assets and information, the Commission may need to take measures in areas protected by fundamental rights as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and in the European Convention on Human Rights and as recognised by the European Court of Justice. Any such measure should therefore be justified by the importance of the interest it is designed to protect, be proportionate and ensure full respect for fundamental rights, including especially the rights of privacy and data protection. Within a system committed to the rule of law and the respect of fundamental rights, the Commission has to strive for an appropriate level of security for its staff, assets and information that ensures it can carry out its operations, while not limiting fundamental rights beyond what is strictly necessary. Security in the Commission shall be based on the principles of legality, transparency, proportionality and accountability. Members of staff mandated to take security measures should not be placed at any disadvantage because of their actions unless they acted outside the scope of their mandate or in violation of the law, and hence in this respect this Decision is to be considered as a service instruction within the meaning of the Staff Regulations. The Commission should take appropriate initiatives to foster and strengthen its security culture, ensuring a more efficient delivery of security, improving its security governance, further intensifying networks and cooperation with relevant authorities at international, European and national level, and improving monitoring and control of the implementation of security measures. (10) The establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) as a functionally autonomous body of the () Union has had a significant impact on the Commission’s security interests, and hence requires that rules and procedures for cooperation as regards safety and security be established between the EEAS and the Commission, in particular with regard to the fulfilment of the Commission’s duty-of-care responsibilities towards Commission staff in Union Delegations. Cf. the ‘Arrangement entre le Gouvernement belge et le Parlement européen, le Conseil, la Commission, le Comité économique et social européen, le Comité des régions, la Banque européenne d'investissement en matiere de sécurité’ of 31 December 2004, the ‘Accord de sécurité signé entre la Commission et le Gouvernement luxembourgeois’ of 20 January 2007, and the ‘Accordo tra il Governo italiano e la Commissione europea dell'energia atomica (Euratom) per listituzione di un Centro comune di ricerche nucleari di competenza generale’ of 22 July 1959.