Security operating procedures for Secured Areas
Article 12
1. The LSO of the Commission department concerned shall draw up SecOPs for each Secured Area under their responsibility. 2. The LSO shall ensure that the SecOPs include the following requirements: (a) only staff members with a valid security authorisation and an established need to access documents classified as CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or higher shall be permitted unescorted access to a Secured Area during office hours; (b) unescorted access to a Secured Area out of office hours shall only be granted to the LSO of the department, the RCO(s) of the Secured Area, their deputies, and authorised staff from the Security Directorate of the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security; (c) recording and communication devices such as mobile phones, computers, cameras or other smart devices shall not be allowed inside Secured Areas without prior authorisation from the CSA; any derogation shall be requested from the CSA in advance; the LSO shall act as the point of contact; (d) all internal or external personnel who require access to a Secured Area but do not fulfil the criteria set out in point (a) above shall be escorted and supervised at all times by a duly authorised staff member; all such access to a Secured Area shall be recorded in a log book kept at the entrance to the Secured Area; (e) the LSO shall ensure that the intrusion detection systems monitoring a Secured Area are active and properly functioning at all times, and shall manage all related passwords, keys, PINs or other access and authentication mechanisms. (f) alarms in a Secured Area shall be reported to the Security Directorate of the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security, which shall immediately notify the LSO; (g) the LSO of the department where the Secured Area is located shall keep a record of each intervention following an alarm or a security incident; (h) procedures shall be in place to cover the event of an alarm or other emergency situation inside the Secured Area, including evacuation of personnel and ensuring a rapid response from an emergency team under the authority of the CSA and external emergency services as necessary; (i) the LSO shall immediately report any breach of security that occurs inside or involving a Secured Area to the CSA in order to determine the appropriate response; (j) individual offices, rooms and safes within a Secured Area shall be kept locked whenever they are left unattended; (k) staff shall avoid discussing classified information in corridors or other common areas of the Secured Area when non-authorised individuals are in the vicinity.