NOTE FOR OFFICIALS, TEMPORARY AGENTS AND CONTRACT AGENTS SERVING IN THIRD COUNTRIES

Brussels, 24 June 2010
RELEX-K.4 - MDH - No.(D2010)
VM 0326/10

In the reformed Staff Regulations, Article 3(2) of Annex VII introduces the notion of "education allowance A". This is an allowance for children less than eight years old who do not attend primary school.

Since September 2009, the allowance has been fixed at € 89.31 per month. The allowance is granted automatically as soon as the official declares the child to the Institution.

Article 15 of Annex X enables officials and agents who come within its scope to triple the ceiling laid down in Annex VII, provided they supply supporting documents. At present the upper limit for reimbursement is €3,215.16 for 2009/2010 (in the northern hemisphere) and €3,186 for the whole year 2009 (in the southern hemisphere). Under exceptional circumstances, the Appointing Authority may allow the ceiling to be exceeded.

In conformity with Conclusion 243/05 issued by the Heads of Administration (as revised and approved at their 248th meeting of 19 April 2007) the relevant provisions cover the reimbursement of costs relating to education allowance A and incurred at educational pre-school establishments (kindergarten classes) excluding early childhood institutions.

Officials and agents concerned are asked to submit their 2009/2010 (northern hemisphere) or 2009 (southern hemisphere) requests for reimbursement as well as their requests to exceed the ceiling by 30 September 2010 at the latest. Every request (Annex I) must be accompanied by the following supporting documents concerning eligible costs (i.e. all registration and tuition fees only): (a) the original invoices, itemised and personalised; (b) a copy of proofs of payment; and (c) an original attendance certificate for each child (Annex III).

Requests for reimbursements within the limit of the ceiling will allow applicants to receive the difference between the monthly allowance paid through the salary and the expenses actually incurred. The full amount is reimbursed for as long as the sum total of eligible expenses is not higher than the amount of the ceiling (third paragraph above). After subtracting the monthly allowance, the remaining balance of the ceiling which is still available is: € 2,143.44 for the northern hemisphere and € 2,124 for the southern hemisphere.

Requests to exceed the ceiling will be considered by the Appointing Authority according to the following criteria, in order of priority:

1. Cases where prices are exceptionally high for pre-primary educational establishments in the place of posting, and where eligible expenses, after deduction of the annual allowance (€1,071.72 for the northern hemisphere and €1.062 for the southern hemisphere) exceed the basic salary of the applicant.
    

2. Pre-primary educational establishments following an international curriculum are prioritised if attendance is obligatory to ensure continuity in the child’s studies or guarantee the child a place at the primary level in the same school.
    

3. The official/agent’s family situation.

Within the context of a constraining budget, the number of the Appointing Authority’s decisions to grant an exceptional reimbursement in excess of the ceiling will be very few and limited to reimbursements of only part of the fees.

I would draw your attention to the fact that implementation of the criteria stated above resulted in granting only 10 exceptional reimbursements in 2008/2009. May I therefore ask colleagues who clearly do not meet the necessary conditions and criteria not to apply for the ceiling to be exceeded. This would only burden our administration needlessly.

Please fill in the forms in Annexes I, II and III and make sure to include all the necessary information. This will speed the processing of your file. Any incomplete file received by the relevant department will be returned to the official/agent with the letter shown below in Annex IV.

Patrick CHILD
“Signed”

Encl:

Annex I (the application form) Annex II (summary table) Annex III (attendance certificate) Annex IV (standard letter to be used when returning files that are incomplete)