Chapter 4, Article 8 · Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2019/1963

Contents

Article 8Requests 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.