Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2003:20
Date: 2003-01-30
Language of the case: French;Spanish
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Concepts: Transfer to the EU scheme of rights acquired under a national scheme
Procedure: Staff cases - inadmissible;Staff cases - successful

SUMMARY - JOINED CASES T-303/00, T-304/00 AND T-322/00 
Held: Cases T-303/00, T-304/00 and T-322/00 are joined for the 
purposes of the judgment. In Case T-303/00: the 
Commission's decision contained in the note of 
13 December 1999 relating to the applicant's pension 
rights is annulled; the remainder of the action is dismissed; 
the Commission is ordered to pay the costs. In Case 
T-304/00: the Commission's decision contained in the note 
of 15 December 1999 relating to the applicant's pension 
rights is annulled; the remainder of the action is dismissed; 
the Commission is ordered to pay the costs. In Case 
T-322/00: the Commission's decisions contained in the 
notes of 15 December 1999 relating to the applicants' 
pension rights are annulled; the Commission is ordered to 
pay the costs. 
Summary 
1. Officials - Pensions - Pension rights acquired before entering the service of the 
Communities - Transfer to the Community scheme - Transfer of an uprated 
amount or an amount with interest by the national body - Deduction, in favour of 
the Community budget, of a flat-rate sum from the amount transferred - Meaning 
of 'interest' 
(Staff Regulations, Annex VIII, Art. 11(2); Commission's general implementing 
provisions, Art. 4(2)) 
2. Officials - Pensions - Pension rights acquired before entering the service of the 
Communities - Transfer to the Community scheme - Supplementary payment 
corresponding to an uprating or interest by the national body after the capital has 
been transferred and the years of pensionable service have been calculated -
Allocation of the whole of the supplementary payment to the Community budget -
Not permissible - Obligation for the institution to review the years of pensionable 
service calculated 
(Staff Regulations, Annex VIII, Art. 11(2); Commission's general implementing 
provisions, Art. 4(2)) 
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CABALLERO MONTOYA AND OTHERS v COMMISSION 
1. Article 4(2) of the general provisions implementing Article 11(2) of Annex VIII 
to the Staff Regulations, on the transfer to the Community scheme of pension rights 
acquired before entering the service of the Communities, is to be interpreted as 
meaning that, where the amount, transferred to the Communities * account, of the 
actuarial equivalent or the flat-rate redemption value of pension rights acquired by 
an official under a national social security scheme has been uprated or had interest 
added by the pension fund to which the official belonged before he entered the 
service of the Communities, the Community institution, before calculating the 
number of years of pensionable service to be taken into account under the 
Community scheme, is justified in making a flat-rate deduction from the sums 
transferred, payable to the Community budget, of 3.5% per year for the period -
between the date of the official's establishment and the date of actual transfer of the 
national pension rights - covered by the uprating or interest. Where the reverse 
applies, the institution may not make any deduction from the amount transferred, 
and the years of pensionable service must therefore be calculated on the basis of the 
whole amount. 
In the absence of more precise guidance, 'interest' within the meaning of 
Article 4(2) must be construed broadly. It refers to any type of interest paid by the 
national pension fund in relation to all or part of the period between the date of the 
official's establishment and the date of actual transfer of the amount of the national 
pension rights. 
(see paras 72-73) 
2. Where, in connection with the transfer of pension rights acquired by officials of 
the Communities before they entered the service of the Communities, and after the 
capital corresponding to the national pension rights has been transferred and the 
years of pensionable service have been calculated, the national pension fund pays 
the Community institution a sum corresponding to an uprating or interest relating 
to all or part of the period between the date of establishment and the date of 
transfer, the proper application of Article 4(2) of the general provisions 
implementing Article 11(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, on the transfer 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES T-303/00, T-304/00 AND T-322/00 
to the Community scheme of pension rights acquired before entering the service of 
the Communities, requires the institution concerned to review the official's case in 
the light of this new fact, which changes the basis of the initial calculation. Having 
deducted 3.5% per year for the period to which the uprating or interest relates, the 
institution must add any resulting balance to the amount of the capital corresponding 
to the national pension rights for the purposes of recalculating the years of 
pensionable service. It follows that the sums in question may not be allocated in 
their entirety to the Community budget, since this would bring the Communities 
unwarranted gain. 
(see paras 79-80, 87, 96) 
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