§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the requirements for EU documents to receive security classification, broken down by security grade. [15172]
§ Peter HainEU information may be classified at the following levels:
- TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET
- SECRET UE
- CONFIDENTIEL UE
- RESTREINT UE.
The criteria for classification are laid down in the Council Decision concerning the adoption of the Council Security Regulations (Council Decision No. 2001/264/EU adopted on 19 March 2001).
The criteria are:
- 1. TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET: This classification shall be applied only to information and material the unauthorised disclosure of which could cause exceptionally grave prejudice to the essential interests of the European Union or of one or more of its member states.
336W - 2. SECRET UE: This classification shall be applied only to information and material the unauthorised disclosure of which could seriously harm the essential interests of the European Union or of one or more of its member states.
- 3. CONFIDENTIEL UE: This classification shall be applied to information and material the unauthorised disclosure of which could harm the essential interests of the European Union or of one or more of its member states.
- 4. RESTREINT UE: This classification shall be applied to information and material the unauthorised disclosure of which could be disadvantageous to the interests of the European Union or of one or more of its member states.