Council Decision (EU) 2022/1660

law://eu/dec/2022/1660@2026-11-13

Contents

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 192(1), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:

(1)The Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the linking of their greenhouse gas emissions trading systems^note (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 23 November 2017 in accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2017/2240^note.

(2)The Agreement was concluded by Council Decision (EU) 2018/219^note and entered into force on 1 January 2020.

(3)Pursuant to Article 12(3) of the Agreement, the Joint Committee may adopt decisions that are to, upon their entry into force, be binding on the Parties.

(4)Article 13(2) of the Agreement provides that the Joint Committee may amend the Annexes to the Agreement.

(5)It is appropriate to restore compatibility and consistency between legal rules and their practical application with a view to protecting sensitive information, in particular against unauthorised disclosure or integrity loss. To ensure consistent application of sensitivity markings as set out in Annex III and IV to the Agreement, those Annexes should be amended in accordance with Article 13(2) of the Agreement.

(6)The Joint Committee, during its fifth meeting, or earlier by means of the written procedure pursuant to Article 8(4) of the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee^note, is to adopt a Decision as regards the amendment of Annexes III and IV to the Agreement.

(7)It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken, on behalf of the Union, within the Joint Committee as regards the amendment of Annexes III and IV to the Agreement, as the amended Annexes will be binding on the Union.

(8)The position of the Union within the Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 #

The position to be taken, on behalf of the Union, during the fifth meeting of the Joint Committee, or earlier by means of the written procedure pursuant to Article 8(4) of the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee, shall be based on the draft Decision of the Joint Committee attached to this Decision.

Article 2 #

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

III · Sensitivity levels and handling instructions

—‘ETS Limited’ shall be applied in the Union as – ‘SENSITIVE: ETS Joint Procurement’; in Switzerland as – ‘LIMITED: ETS’

—Generation of document

—Resources

—Sensitivity Level

—‘ETS Sensitive’ shall be applied in the Union and in Switzerland as – ‘SENSITIVE: ETS’

—Storage

—Electronic document on network

—Electronic document in a local environment

—Physical document

—‘ETS Critical’ shall be applied in the Union and in Switzerland as – ‘SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical’

—Electronic transmission

—Phone and mobile

—Fax

—E-mail

—Data transmission

—Physical Transmission

—Oral

—Personal handover

—Postal system

—Use

—Processing with IT applications

—Printing

—Copying

—Removal from permanent location

—Information management

—Regular evaluation of classification and recipients

—Archiving

—Deletion and destruction

The Parties shall make use of the following sensitivity levels to identify sensitive information that is handled and exchanged within this Agreement.

To this end, the markings laid down in Article 9(2) of this Agreement shall be applied as follows:

Information that is marked as ‘SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical’ is more sensitive than information that is marked as ‘SENSITIVE: ETS’, which in turn is more sensitive than information that is marked as ‘SENSITIVE: ETS Joint Procurement’ in the Union or ‘LIMITED: ETS’ in Switzerland.

The Parties agree to develop handling instructions on the basis of the existing ETS information classification policy of the Union and on the basis of the Information Protection Ordinance and the Federal Act on Data Protection of Switzerland. The handling instructions shall be submitted to the Joint Committee for approval. Following approval, all information shall have to be handled according to its sensitivity level in compliance with the handling instructions.

In case of different level assessments by the Parties, the higher level shall be applied.

The legislation of each Party shall include equivalent essential security requirements for the following handling steps, taking into account the ETS sensitivity levels:

Annex IV · Definition of ets sensitivity levels

A.1 – Confidentiality and Integrity rating

‘Confidentiality’ means the reserved nature of information or of all or part of an information system (such as algorithms, programmes and documentation) to which access is limited to authorised persons, bodies and procedures.

‘Integrity’ means the guarantee that the information system and the processed information can be altered only by deliberate and legitimate action and that the system will produce the expected result accurately and in full.

For each piece of ETS information that is considered to be sensitive, the confidentiality aspect has to be considered from the potential impact at business level where this information is disclosed and the integrity aspect has to be considered from the potential impact at business level where this information is unwillingly modified, partially or totally destroyed.

The level of confidentiality of information and the level of integrity of an information system shall be rated following an assessment based on the criteria contained in section A.2. Those ratings allow the global sensitivity level of the information to be evaluated by means of the mapping table provided in section A.3.

A.2 – Confidentiality and Integrity rating

A.2.1 – Low rating

—moderately affect political or diplomatic relations;

—cause local negative publicity to the image or reputation of the Parties or other institutions;

—cause embarrassment to individuals;

—affect staff morale/productivity;

—cause limited financial loss or, moderately facilitate improper gain or advantage for individuals or companies;

—moderately affect the effective development or operation of the Parties’ policies;

—moderately affect the proper management of the Parties and their operations.

A low rating shall be given to any information relating to the ETS the disclosure to unauthorised persons, and/or loss of integrity of which would cause moderate damage to the Parties or other institutions which, in turn, would be likely to:

A.2.2 – Medium rating

—cause embarrassment to political or diplomatic relations;

—affect the proper management of the Parties and their operations.

—cause damage to the image or reputation of the Parties or other institutions;

—cause distress to individuals;

—cause consequential reduction in staff morale/productivity;

—embarrass the Parties or other institutions in commercial or policy negotiations with others;

—cause financial loss or facilitate improper gain or advantage for individuals or companies;

—affect the investigation of crime;

—breach legal or contractual obligations on confidentiality of information;

—affect the development or operation of the Parties’ policies;

A medium rating shall be given to any information relating to the ETS the disclosure to unauthorised persons, and/or loss of integrity of which would cause damage to the Parties or other institutions which, in turn, would be likely to:

A.2.3 – High rating

—adversely affect diplomatic relations;

—undermine the proper management of the Parties and their operations.

—cause substantial distress to individuals;

—make it more difficult to maintain the operational effectiveness or security of Parties or other contributors’ forces;

—cause financial loss or facilitate improper gain or advantage for individuals or companies;

—breach proper undertakings to maintain the confidentiality of information provided by third parties;

—breach statutory restrictions on disclosure of information;

—prejudice the investigation or facilitate the commission of crime;

—disadvantage the Parties in commercial or policy negotiations with others;

—impede the effective development or operation of the Parties’ policies;

A high rating shall be given to any information relating to the ETS the disclosure to unauthorised persons, and/or loss of integrity of which would cause catastrophic and/or unacceptable damage to the Parties or other institutions which, in turn, would be likely to:

A.3 – ETS Sensitive information level assessment

Based on the ratings for Confidentiality and for Integrity pursuant to section A.2 and in accordance with the sensitivity levels pursuant to Annex III to this Agreement, the global information sensitivity level is established using the following mapping table:

Confidentiality ratingIntegrity rating	Low	Medium	High
Low	Marking EU:SENSITIVE: ETS Joint ProcurementMarking CH :LIMITED : ETS	Marking EU/CH:SENSITIVE: ETS(or^noteMarking EU:SENSITIVE: ETS Joint ProcurementMarking CH:LIMITED: ETS)	Marking EU/CH:SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical
Medium	Marking EU/CH:SENSITIVE: ETS(or^noteMarking EU:SENSITIVE: ETS Joint ProcurementMarking CH:LIMITED: ETS)	Marking EU/CH:SENSITIVE: ETS(or^noteMarking EU/CH:SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical)	Marking EU/CH:SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical
High	Marking EU/CH:SPECIAL HANDLING:ETS Critical	Marking EU/CH:SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical	Marking EU/CH:SPECIAL HANDLING: ETS Critical

Council Decision (EU) 2022/1660

Council Decision (EU) 2022/1660

Article 1 #

Article 2 #

III · Sensitivity levels and handling instructions

Annex IV · Definition of ets sensitivity levels

A.1 – Confidentiality and Integrity rating

A.2 – Confidentiality and Integrity rating

A.2.1 – Low rating

A.2.2 – Medium rating

A.2.3 – High rating

A.3 – ETS Sensitive information level assessment

Appendix

Defined terms · 2

Key facts

History · 1 version

Article 1 #

Article 2 #

III · Sensitivity levels and handling instructions

Annex IV · Definition of ets sensitivity levels

A.1 – Confidentiality and Integrity rating

A.2 – Confidentiality and Integrity rating

A.2.1 – Low rating

A.2.2 – Medium rating

A.2.3 – High rating

A.3 – ETS Sensitive information level assessment

Appendix

Connections