1. Article 4 of Annex V to the Staff Regulations (which by analogy applies to other servants as well) stipulates that officials who have not used up their annual leave entitlement before the end of the current calendar year are allowed to carry leave over to the following year.
    
2. This carry-over is limited to a maximum of twelve (12) days for leave that you have not taken by 31 December of the current year for reasons other than necessities of the service. This carry-over to the next calendar year is automatic, without any administrative action being required.
    
3. Where the number of days that you have not taken is greater than twelve, however, leave in excess of these twelve days can be carried over only if you can show that you were unable to take them during the current calendar year because of necessities of the service.
    
4. You then have to apply for a carry-over, by 31 January of the following year at the latest, to the person responsible for human resources in your Directorate-General or department; this application should contain the reasons justifying the request and be signed by your immediate superior. Applications for a carry-over which do not specify the number of days, or give no valid reasons or only very general ones, will not be accepted.
    
5. Where permission is given to carry over the balance of your leave in excess of the 12 days allowed in the Staff Regulations, these extra days will be added to your entitlement for the next year.
    
6. In the case of staff working in national centres, Offices and Agencies in the Community and departments that do not have access to the "SIC Congés" computer application, the Directorates-General concerned have been instructed to issue the necessary forms to those of you wishing to submit a carry-over application.
    

Horst Reichenbach