EARLY RETIREMENT WITHOUT REDUCTION OF PENSION RIGHTS:

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - 2008 EXERCISE

This notice is the call for applications for the 2008 exercise of early retirement without reduction of pension rights.

Rules

Each year a limited number of officials and temporary staff are allowed to retire before the pensionable age without reduction of pension rights, in accordance with Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations and Article 39 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.

The Commission adopted the provisions implementing a scheme for early retirement without reduction of pension rights on 28 April 2004 by Decision C(2004) 1588, which can be found in administrative notice No 63-2004 of 11 June 2004.

The Commission amended these implementing provisions by its decision of 10 August 2006. The text of the new general implementing provisions (GIPs) can be found in administrative notice No 56-2006 of 20 November 2006.

Potential number of staff who will be able to retire in the 2008 exercise without a reduction of pension rights

The Commission anticipates that it will be able to permit approximately a total of some fifty officials and temporary staff combined to retire without reduction of the pension rights under the 2008 exercise. The precise figure will be published on the "Early retirement" site of IntraComm once the inter-institutional negotiations regarding each institution's quota have been completed. Candidates' attention is drawn to the fact that the figure cited above is only a rough estimate of the number of Commission staff who may be able to benefit from early retirement under this exercise.

What are the eligibility criteria?

To be eligible for the 2008 exercise, officials and temporary staff must:

• be at least 55 years old on 31 December 2008;
   
• be unable to retire without a reduction in pension rights in the course of 2008;
   
• have completed at least 10 years' service on 31 December 2008⁽¹⁾.
  
  For the purpose of determining the period of service, only periods of active employment, secondment in the interest of the service, leave for military service or parental or family leave will be taken into consideration.

On the closing date for submission of applications (29 February 2008) and on the date of the decision of the Appointing Authority

• officials must be:

1. in active employment, on leave for military service or on parental or family leave (within the meaning of Article 35 of the Staff Regulations), or
    
2. seconded in the interest of the service (within the meaning of Article 37(a) of the Staff Regulations).

• temporary staff must be in active employment or on parental or family leave.

What are the selection criteria?

For information on selection criteria, please consult articles 5 and 6 of the Commission decision C(2004) 1588 of 28 April 2004 (administrative notice No 63-2004 of 11 June 2004) as amended by the decision of 10 August 2006 (administrative notice No 56-2006 of 20 November 2006).

When will the selected applicants retire from the Commission?

The applicants given the right to retire early must leave the Commission during the calendar year 2008, i.e. until 1 January 2009 at the latest, but in all the cases they have to be 55 years and they have to have 10 years of seniority in the service at the date of departure.

How to apply?

Those wishing to apply should complete, by 29 February 2008 at the latest, the online application form

or from outside the Commission: https://intracomm.ec.europa.eu/cvonline/index.cfm?fuseaction=CV_RETR_ANTIC&langue=EN

Only applications completed and validated on line will be considered.

Applicants for earlier exercises who were not allowed to retire early under these arrangements must submit a new application if they wish to take part in this exercise. In such cases, applicants should note that the appraisal of their earlier application has no effect on the appraisal for this exercise.

Those interested should consult the Frequently Asked Questions on the website on "Early retirement" on IntraComm.

Any further questions or queries may be sent by e-mail to:

ADMIN A4 Early Retirement.

The planned timetable for the subsequent stages of the procedure is as follows:

• March-April 2008: DGs and other services appraise the electronic applications and send DG ADMIN the list of applicants sorted into three groups depending on the interest (high, low or non-existent) that applying this measure to the person concerned would have for the service. Applicants in the first and second groups are ranked by order of priority;
   
• May 2008: DG ADMIN draws up a draft list and a draft reserve list;
   
• June 2008: the Joint Committee (COPAR) gives its opinion on the draft lists;
   
• July 2008: the Appointing Authority adopts the list of persons selected, which will then be published as an administrative notice, and a reserve list. Following an opinion issued by the European Data Protection Supervisor, the reserve list will not be published, for data protection reasons. Applicants will be informed in writing of the decision taken in their case. Those selected will have ten working days from the date of notification to withdraw their application if they so wish.

The treatment of personal data in the context of this exercise has been notified by DG ADMIN to the Data Protection Officer. More information on this issue

or from outside the Commission, see: https://intracomm.ec.europa.eu/cvonline/index.cfm?fuseaction=CV_RETR_ANTIC&langue=EN
________________
Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ Years of service for which a severance grant has been paid will not be taken into account for assessing the eligibility requirement of 10 years' service.