Brussels, 28.04.2004
C(2004) 1588

COMMISSION DECISION

General implementing provisions for Articles 11 and 12 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations on transferring pension rights

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, laid down by Council Regulation (EEC, EURATOM, ECSC) No 259/68 ⁽¹⁾ and last amended by Council Regulation (CE, Euratom) No 723/2004 of 22.03.2004⁽²⁾, and in particular Articles 11 and 12 of Annex VIII thereto,

Having regard to the opinion of the Staff Regulations Committee,

After consulting the Staff Committee,

Whereas it is necessary, following the amendment of Articles 11 and 12 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004(2), to replace the existing general implementing provisions for Article 11,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING PROVISIONS:

• SECTION 1 – GENERAL PROVISIONS

  • Article 1
     

• SECTION 2 – PROVISIONS RELATING TO ARTICLES 11(1) AND 12

  • Article 2

  • Article 3

  • Article 4
     

• SECTION 3 – PROVISIONS RELATING TO ARTICLE 11(2) AND 11(3)

  • Article 5

  • Article 6

  • Article 7

  • Article 8
     

• SECTION 4 – TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

  • Article 9

  • Article 10

  • Article 11
     

• ANNEX 1

• ANNEX 2

• ANNEX 3

SECTION 1 – GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

These general implementing provisions are intended to specify the conditions in which Articles 11 and 12 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations are applied. Those Articles cover transfers of pension rights acquired by:

• officials;
   

• temporary agents within the meaning of Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities;
   

• contract staff within the meaning of Article 3a or 3b of those conditions,

all referred to below as "staff (member)(s)".

SECTION 2 – PROVISIONS RELATING TO ARTICLES 11(1) AND 12

Article 2

1. Staff who leave the service of the Communities to:
    

   • enter the service of a government administration or a national or international organisation, or
      

   • pursue an activity in an employed or self employed capacity by virtue of which they acquire pension rights,

   may, provided they have not already started drawing a pension under the Staff Regulations, request that the institution in which they are employed transfer the actuarial equivalent of their pension rights (current on the day of the actual transfer) to one of the following bodies:
    

   • a government administration or a national or international organisation,
      

   • the body responsible for administering the pension scheme that covers their activity in an employed or self employed capacity.
      

2. Alternatively, staff who have not reached pensionable age within the meaning of Article 77 of the Staff Regulations who permanently cease employment for a reason other than their death or invalidity and who are not entitled to a retirement pension may request that the actuarial equivalent of their pension rights be transferred to a private insurance company or pension fund of their choice, on condition such company or fund guarantees that:
   – the capital will not be paid out;
    

   • a monthly income will be paid from age 60 at the earliest, and age 65 at the latest;
      

   • provisions are included for widow(er)s’ or survivors’ pensions;
      

   • transfer to another insurance company or fund will be authorised only if such company or fund fulfils the conditions laid down in the three preceding indents.

Article 3

1. When staff permanently cease employment for a reason other than their death, invalidity or because they have started to draw their retirement pension, their institution will notify them of the amount of the actuarial equivalent that corresponds to their entire pension rights acquired to that date under the Community pension scheme.
    

2. The transfer, under Article 11(1) or Article 12, shall become permanent and irrevocable once written agreement for it has been provided by:
    

   • the administration, organisation, body, insurance company or pension fund referred to in Article 2, and
      

   • the staff member and the institution in which they are employed,
      

3. By giving this agreement, staff shall effectively waive their entitlement and that of their dependants to any other pension rights under the Community pension scheme.

Article 4

1. The amount of the actuarial equivalent (M) shall be calculated by the institution in which the staff member is employed at the time of ceasing employment,
    

   • on the basis of the retirement pension (P) due to the staff member on the date on which employment permanently ceases, and
      

   • by capitalising this pension (P) on the basis of the latest actuarial values (V1) in the table in Annex 1, according to the formula M = P x V1.
      

2. The actuarial equivalent calculated by this method shall be updated by a new calculation on the date on which the corresponding payment order is created.

SECTION 3 – PROVISIONS RELATING TO ARTICLE 11(2) AND 11(3)

Article 5

1. Staff who take up their post with the Communities after:
    

   • leaving the service of a government administration or of a national or international organisation, or
      

   • pursuing an activity in an employed or self employed capacity,

   shall be entitled, between the date on which they are established in their post or the end of their probation period (or, if they are not subject to a probation period, the date on which they take up their post) and the date on which they become eligible for payment of a retirement pension under the terms of Article 77 of the Staff Regulations, to have paid to the Communities the capital value, updated to the date of the actual transfer, of pension rights acquired by virtue of such service or activities.
   
   If the staff member has already started receiving payments under the scheme in question, based on the rights referred to in the previous paragraph, as either a pension or an income, the transfer can be carried out only if agreement is obtained from this scheme.
   
   Applications must be submitted in writing, using the form provided for this purpose and preferably sent by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt. They can be submitted as early as the date on which the staff member is established in his post or the date on which his probation period finishes or, if he is not subject to a probation period, the date on which they take up their post.
   
   Applications received before the end of the probation period may not be processed by the competent department until this period has ended.
   
   Regardless of their status, staff must submit their application no later than six months after the end of the minimum period needed to qualify them for the right referred to in Article 77 of the Staff Regulations. If the end of this period has not been reached by the time the staff member has reached pensionable age within the meaning of Article 77 of the Staff Regulations, they must submit their application no later than 6 months after the date on which they attain this age.
   
   Applications must be submitted within the periods referred to above, even if no agreement has been reached with the pension scheme(s) in question on suitable arrangements for the transfer.
   
   The date that counts shall be the date on which the competent institution takes delivery of an application sent by registered post or, failing that, the date on which the application is registered with the competent department of the institution.
   
   In any unbroken period during which they are members of the pension scheme for officials of the European Communities, staff may exercise this option once only for each of any pension schemes they may have belonged to, regardless either of the administrative status under which they invoked the right to do so or of the Community institution, agency or office in which they performed the duties that made them eligible for the right.
   
   The competent institution shall terminate the procedure if, on the date on which the member of staff resigns or on which his contract ends, he has been either working for less than the 10 years needed to be eligible for a Community pension or have not reached pensionable age within the meaning of Article 77 of the Staff Regulations, and if it has not proved possible to obtain definitive agreement from the staff member regarding the number of pensionable years to be credited to the Community pension scheme.
    

2. Staff members who are reinstated after
    

   • a period of secondment under the second indent of Article 37(1)(b) of the Staff Regulations, or
      

   • a period of leave on personal grounds under Article 40 of the Staff Regulations or Articles 17 and 91 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities,

   may request the transfer of the capital value, updated to the date of the actual transfer, of pension rights acquired during the secondment or period of leave on personal grounds.
   
   This provision shall not have the effect of re opening any periods that have already closed for submitting a transfer application under Article 11(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations.
   
   If the period provided for in paragraph 1 has expired, staff shall have a period of six months from the date of their reinstatement within which to request the transfer of only those rights acquired during the period of secondment or leave on personal grounds.

Article 6

1. All amounts owed to staff members from their previous pension scheme which are to be transferred must be certified as being the up to date capital value of the pension rights acquired before taking up their post with the Communities, or, for applications under Article 11(3) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, before their reinstatement.
    

2. The amount to be transferred must correspond to the whole of this capital value. It may correspond to the rights acquired from periods spent in the service of more than one administration or organisation or from more than one period of activity in an employed or self employed capacity.

Article 7

For purposes of calculating the pensionable years to be credited under Article 11(2) and (3) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations:

1. The number of pensionable years to be taken into account shall be calculated on the basis of the transferable amount of the pension rights acquired during the periods referred to in the first subparagraphs, respectively, of Article 5(1) and (2), minus the amount of capital appreciation between the date on which the transfer application is registered and the date of the actual transfer.
   
   Where the national or international body is not able to supply the value of the pension rights on the date on which the application is registered, simple interest at the rate provided for in Article 10 of Annex XII to the Staff Regulations shall be deducted from the amount transferred for the period from the date on which the application is registered to the date of the actual transfer.
    

2. The number of pensionable years to be taken into account shall be calculated as follows:
    

   • by converting the transferred amount (M) into a theoretical income (R) using the latest actuarial values (V2) as provided for in the table in Annex 2, according to the formula R = M/V2
      

   • by converting this notional pension (R) into a number of pensionable years (N) to the Community pension scheme, based on (i) the annual basic salary (T) to which the staff member is entitled on the date on which his transfer application is registered and (ii) the annual rate of pension right accumulation applicable to the staff member in question (P), according to the formula N = R / (T x P).
      

   • for staff who entered service before [01/05/2004] the bonus obtained shall be subject to the application of a weighting (CR) (see table Annex 3) to take account of the provisions of Article 22(1) and (2) of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations, comprising amendments to the pensionable age and to the rate of increase of rights acquired after the normal pensionable age of the staff member concerned.
      

3. Amounts transferred to the Community pension scheme in a currency other than euros shall, for purposes of determining the number of pensionable years, be converted into euros on the basis of the monthly rate set by the Commission for the implementation of the budget in the month in which the application is registered.
    

4. For purposes of applying points 1, 2 and 3 and, if the institution in question finds that the transfer was not possible on the date when the staff member announced their interest due to a lack of agreement with the pension scheme in question on suitable arrangements for doing so, the date to be taken into account shall be the date on which the application is registered.
    

5. Where the application is registered during the probation period, the date to be taken into account shall be that on which the staff member is established or that of the end of his probation period.
    

6. The number of pensionable years to be taken into account may not under any circumstances exceed the number of years during which the staff member in question was a member of the schemes in question. Any excess amount resulting from the ceiling on the number of pensionable years shall be reimbursed to the staff member concerned.

Article 8

1. The crediting of pensionable years may not lead to the total pension payable by the Communities exceeding the ceilings set by the pension scheme.
    

2. Where relevant, the pensionable years taken into account shall go towards determining the actuarial equivalent transferable under Article 11(1) or Article 12 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations thereto.
    

3. The pensionable years taken into account shall not go towards determining the minimum number of completed years of service that qualify staff for a retirement pension under Article 77 of the Staff Regulations.
    

4. The pensionable years credited to contract staff who become officials or temporary officials, or who are reinstated in the service of the Community with one of these statuses, shall be converted into pensionable years acquired by an official subject to the terms of Article 3 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations.

SECTION 4 – TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 9

The transitional provisions on the application of Article 11(1) and Article 12(1)(b) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations shall be as defined by Article 27 of Annex XIII thereto.

Article 10

The transitional provisions on the application of Article 11(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations shall be as defined by Article 26 of Annex XIII thereto.

These provisions shall apply by analogy to applications to exercise the option to transfer rights under Article 11(3) of Annex VIII.

Article 11

These general implementing provisions for Article 11(1), (2) and (3) and Article 12 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations shall enter into force on 1 May 2004.

They shall repeal and replace the general implementing provisions adopted on 2 July 1969. However, those general implementing provisions shall remain applicable to applications submitted before 1 May 2004.

Done at Brussels, 28.4.2004

ANNEX 1

Table of actuarial values (V1) calculated on the basis of the parameters laid down in Annex XII to the Staff Regulations for purposes of calculating the transferable amount of actuarial equivalent under Articles 11(1) and 12 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations

ANNEX 2

Table of actuarial values (V2) calculated on the basis of the parameters laid down in Annex XII to the Staff Regulations for purposes of calculating the number of pensionable years to be credited under Article 11(2) and (3) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations

ANNEX 3

Table of coefficients (CR) pursuant to Article 22(1) and (2) of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations:
 

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Footnotes
⁽¹⁾ OJ L 56, 4.3.1968.
⁽²⁾ OJ L 124, 27.4.2004.