EN    EN EN 
EN    EN  EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, 18.11.2010 
SEC(2010) 1408 
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Report on the 2010 update of the 2009 actuarial assessment of the 
Pension Scheme for European Officials (PSEO) 
 
Accompanying document to the 
  
Proposal for a Council Regulation adjusting, from 1 July 2010, the rate of contribution 
to the pension scheme of officials and other servants  of the European Union  
EN 2   EN TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. Introduction................................................................................................................ .. 3 
2. Contribution rate .......................................................................................................... 4  
3. Update of the assessment of the actuarial balance....................................................... 4 4. Analysis of the contribution rate change...................................................................... 4 
4.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR)........................................................................................... 5 4.2. General Salary Growth (GSG)..................................................................................... 5 4.3. Individual Salary Progression (ISP)............................................................................. 5 4.4. Invalidity table .......................................................................................................... ... 5 
4.5. Life table (healthy persons).......................................................................................... 6 4.6. Life table (invalid persons) .......................................................................................... 6 4.7. Assumed retirement age............................................................................................... 6 4.8. Average difference between men and women ............................................................. 6 4.9. Probability of being married for men and women ....................................................... 7 4.10. Loading factor for orphan’s and divorced spouse’s pension ....................................... 7 4.11. Methodological changes .............................................................................................. 7 4.12. Population change effect.............................................................................................. 7 
5. Computation system..................................................................................................... 8 
5.1. Variables used in the assessment ................................................................................. 8 5.2. Demographic parameters ............................................................................................. 8 5.3. Economic parameters................................................................................................... 9 5.4. Technical implementation of Annex XII to the Staff Regulations .............................. 9 5.5. Independent examination ............................................................................................. 9 
APPENDIX I - COMPUTATION ........................................................................................... 10 
1. Relevant figures for calcul ating the contribution rate................................................ 10 
2. Summary of main variables ....................................................................................... 11 3. Demographic parameters ........................................................................................... 13 
3.1. Reference population ................................................................................................. 13 3.2. Assumed retirement age............................................................................................. 15 3.3. Invalidity table .......................................................................................................... . 17 
3.4. Life table of healthy persons...................................................................................... 18 3.5. Life table of invalids .................................................................................................. 18  
3.6. Average age difference between men and women..................................................... 18 3.7. Probability of being married for men and women ..................................................... 19 
4. Economic parameters................................................................................................. 20 
4.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR)......................................................................................... 20 4.2. General Salary Growth (GSG)................................................................................... 22 4.3. Individual Salary Progression (ISP)........................................................................... 22 4.3.1. Population groups ...................................................................................................... 2 2 
4.3.2. Turnover................................................................................................................ ..... 23 
4.3.3. ISP rates ............................................................................................................... ...... 24 
4.4. Loading factor for orphan’s and divorced spouse’s pension ..................................... 24 
5. Annuities ................................................................................................................... . 25 
APPENDIX II – INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION ............................................................. 26 
EN 3   EN 1. INTRODUCTION  
Article 83a and Annex XII of the Staff Regulati ons set out rules to guarantee the equilibrium 
of the PSEO (Pension Scheme of European Officials). 
Annex XII lays down rules for implementing Article 83a of the Staff Regulations. In 
particular, it stipulates that: 
– Eurostat is the authority responsible for the technical im plementation of the 
Annex (see Article 13(1)), 
– Eurostat will be assisted by one or more  qualified independent experts in carrying 
out the actuarial assessments (see Article 13(2)), 
– each year on 1 September, Eurostat is to submit a report on the assessment and 
updating referred to in Article 1 of  the Annex (see Article 13(3)), 
– any questions of methodology raised by th e implementation of the Annex shall be 
dealt with by Eurostat in cooperation with national ex perts from the relevant 
departments of the Member States and th e qualified independent expert or experts 
(see Article 13(4)). 
Eurostat has drawn up the present report in ac cordance with the above legal requirements. The 
second five-yearly actuarial assessment of the pe nsion scheme of the European civil service 
was carried out in 2008. This report sets out  the results of the 2010 update of this 2008 
actuarial assessment, based on the population of European officials as at 31 December 2009. 
The report provides the information needed by the Commission to propose, if necessary, 
changes to the staff contribution rate in or der to ensure the balance of the scheme. 
For any further information concerning this repor t, please contact Eurostat in Luxembourg: 
 
Eurostat, Unit C-6 Secretariat 
BECH – A2/018 
L-2920 Luxembourg 
Tel.: (352) 4301-34191 
EN 4   EN 2. CONTRIBUTION RATE  
The 2010 actuarial assessment of the Pension Scheme for European Officials (PSEO) 
indicates that, in order to guarantee the equi librium of the scheme, the contribution rate 
necessary to finance one third of  the benefits payable would be 11.0%  of the basic 
salary (or invalidity or termination of service allowance). This actuarial assessment has been made in accordance with the agreed methodology. It was discussed by the Article 83 Working Group at the 30 June 2010 meeting and has been reviewed and 
approved by independent actuarial consultants. 
The calculated contribution ra te indicated above (11.0%) is one third of the ratio 
between the total of the serv ice cost (1 181 million Euros) and the total of annual basic 
salaries (3 574 million Euros) (see Appendix I, Tables I and II). This rate is lower (-
0.3%) than the one calculated in 2009 (11.3%). This change  is analysed in point 4. 
3. U
PDATE OF THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ACTUARIAL BALANCE  
The PSEO was assessed on the basis of the co mputation method set ou t in Chapter 2 of 
Annex XII of the Staff Regulations. 
Compared to the 2009 assessment, some ch anges were introduced  in the methodology, 
notably in the treatment of staff tur nover and invalidity before retirement. 
An updated document concerning the calcula tion methodology is avai lable and can be 
obtained from Eurostat on request. 
In addition, the following elements have  been considered in the 2010 assessment: 
– The population of contributing members at 31 December 2009, 
– The update of Individual Salary Progressi ons (ISP), which are now decoupled from 
the issue of staff turnover. 
More details about these update s are given in Appendix I. 
4. ANALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTION RATE CHANGE  
Changes to the pension contribution rate resu lt from the combined effect of changes in 
the population structure, in actuarial assumptions and in  the methodology. The separate 
impact of these changes in the officials' contribution rate change is not easy to determine due to their interdependency, alt hough analysis of the actuarial assumptions 
allows a better understanding of  the changes in contribution rate and its sensitivity to 
the various actuarial assumptions. 
As indicated in point 1, the o fficial’s pension contribution rate calculated this year 
(11.0%) is lower than the one calculated in 2009 (11.3%). This decrease (-0.3 
percentage points) is mainly explained by improvements in the methodology, notably in 
the incorporation of staff turnover (-0.2% percentage points), the update of the 
invalidity table (-0.1 percentage points) and by the fact that th e Real Discount Rate 
(RDR) and the General Salary Growth (GSG ) have, exceptionally th is year, remained 
EN 5   EN stable. It should be remembered that past in creases of the contribution rate in the period 
2004 – 2009, from 9.75% to 11.3% (current a pplied rate) are ma inly due to the 
progressive yearly decrease of the RDR from  3.9% (rate used in the 2004 assessment) to 
2.8% (rate used in the 2009 assessment). 
Changes in actuarial assumptions and th eir impact on the contribution rate were 
presented in detail at the 30 June 2010 m eeting of the Article 83 Working Group (see 
document 20100624 Art83_05). 
4.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR) 
The RDR (2.8%) used in 2010 calculation is the same as in the 2009 assessment. 
Consequently no effect is observed this year in the pension contribution rate. 
4.2. General Salary Growth (GSG) 
The GSG (0.3%) used in 2010 calculation is the same as in the 2009 assessment. 
Consequently no effect is observed this year in the pension contribution rate. 
4.3. Individual Salary Progression (ISP) 
In the 2010 calculation, staff turnover was treated as a separate issue from the ISP. In 
previous years the ISP tables for certain cat egories of staff had reflected the inherent 
tendency for staff turnover in these categories.  Separate modelling of staff turnover in 
the 2010 calculation required a recalculation of  ISPs, which reflected individual salary 
progressions over the time act ually spent in service. 
The share of staff with non-permanent em ployment contracts (most Temporary and 
Contract agents) in the tota l of active staff has increa sed significantly since 2004. The 
expected salary progression of these categorie s is smaller than that of officials due to 
their high turnover. In additi on, Parliamentary Assistants, a new category included this 
year for the first time has an ISP equal to 0%. The improvements in the methodology to better integrate turnover and th e new calculated ISP rates sli ghtly decrease the service 
cost and thus the pension cont ribution rate to finance it.  
The effect of using new ISP rates can not be  isolated due to the implicit change in 
methodology. The impact of both elements (ISP and turnover computation) is explained 
in point 4.11. 
4.4. Invalidity table 
The table of probabilities of becoming an invalid was updated, with the most recently 
observed invalidity rates (2009) also being ta ken into account. The new invalidity table 
(2009 EU Invalidity tabl e) is thus an aver age of 5 years invalidity rates (2005 – 2009). 
The use of this updated table has had an im pact of around -0.1 percentage points. This 
impact is explained by the fact that th e probability of becoming invalid by age 
according to the 2009 invalidity table has decreased in comparison with the 2008 
version (see further explanation in appendix I, point 3.3).Consequently the service cost 
for invalidity to be financed by the pe nsion contribution rate has decreased.  
EN 6   EN 4.5. Life table (healthy persons) 
According to the Staff Regulations the life ta ble may be updated only on the occasion of 
the five-yearly actuarial assessment1. The current life table was updated on the occasion 
of the 2008 actuarial assessment and this table,  2008 ICSLT, must be used at least until 
the next five-yearly assessment in 2013. 
The life table used in the 2010 calculation is t hus identical to that used in the 2008 
calculation and there is no impact on the calcul ated contribution rate due to a change in 
the table. 
4.6. Life table (invalid persons) 
It is normal actuarial practice to consider life  expectancy of invalids as slightly shorter 
than that of healthy persons (e.g. EuroCont rol applies the mortality rate corresponding 
to a healthy person 3 years older than an inva lid’s age). Eurostat considers this approach 
very logical and applied this actuarial pr actice for the first time in the 2008 pension 
assessment, and again in 2009. 
The same practice was applied in the 2010 calc ulation, and since the life table used in 
the 2010 calculation is identical to that us ed in the previous calculation, there is no 
impact on the calculated contribution ra te due to a change in the table. 
4.7. Assumed retirement age 
Assumed retirement ages by staff categories groups were first estimated for the 2004 
pension assessment, and were presented at  the June 2004 meeting of the Article 83 
Working Group. As provided for in paragr aph 3 of Article 83 (a) of the Staff 
Regulations these assumed retirement ages were checked in 2008, on the occasion of the 
second five-yearly actuarial assessment, a nd no change was proposed for the following 
five-year period.  
The assumed retirement ages are therefore id entical to those used since 2004 and there 
is no impact on the calculated contribution rate due to a change in assumed retirement age. 
4.8. Average difference between men and women 
The average age difference between married men and women (3 years) that has been 
applied since 2004 in actuarial calcula tions was checked in 2008, and found to 
correspond to reality. The test showed that on average married men are 3.01 years older than their partners and married women 3.18 years younger than their partners. 
Since the average difference in age is uncha nged, there is no impact on the calculated 
contribution rate due to a change in this age difference. 
                                                
 
1 Article 9(2) of Annex XI I to the Staff Regulations. 
EN 7   EN 4.9. Probability of being married for men and women 
The probabilities of being married for official s and ex-officials aged more than 59 were 
reassessed in 2008, and updated probabilities were presented at the June 2008 meeting 
of the Article 83 Working Group. No change was proposed at the June 2010 meeting of 
the Article 83 Working Group. 
Since the probability of being married is unc hanged, there is no impact on the calculated 
contribution rate from a change in probabil ities of being married for men and women. 
4.10. Loading factor for orphan’s and divorced spouse’s pension 
Current actuarial practice is to add 10% to a payable reversion pension to allow for the 
pension payable to orphans afte r the death of the surviving s pouse (or of the official if 
there is no surviving spouse) and any pens ion payable to divorced spouses. Eurostat 
estimates that the impact of this factor on  the contribution rate is minor and does not 
consider an update to this assumpti on necessary at the present time.  
Since the loading factor for pensions pa yable to orphans and divorced spouses is 
unchanged, there is no impact on the calculated c ontribution rate due to a change in the 
loading factor. 
4.11. Methodological changes 
In parallel to the change in ISP computation (see point 4.3), staff turnover is computed 
separately in the 2010 pension assessment. For this, the methodology of calculation has 
been improved and some new actuarial a ssumptions have been defined. The updated 
methodology was presented at the June 2010 meeting of the Article 83 Working Group. 
The implementation of the improved met hodology concerning turnover and the use of 
the new ISP rates has had a combined impact of around -0.2 percentage points in the 
pension contribution rate. 
4.12. Population change effect 
The yearly population change has not had a significant impact  in the pension 
contribution rate calculated this year. This  impact can only be observed on a cumulated 
basis over a longer period of time. The same  contribution rate is obtained if the 
population at 31.12.2008 is used instead of this at the 31.12.2009. 
EN 8   EN 5. COMPUTATION SYSTEM  
5.1. Variables used in the assessment 
In general, two kinds of variables ar e used in the actuarial calculation: 
Parameters.  These are values mainly linked to th e application of the Staff Regulations. 
These values change according to certain condit ions related to the individual situation of 
each official (e.g. the annual accrual rate is  1.9% for staff recruited from 01.05.2004 and 
2% for those recruited before this date). These values can be clearly established.  
Actuarial assumptions.  These are values that are not  known and cannot be established 
exactly, such as the invalidity table, the ISP ta ble, the probability of  being married at the 
retirement date, the loading factor for or phans and divorced spouses. The values of 
these actuarial assumptions are estimated in  accordance with genera l actuarial practices 
and discussed with natio nal experts from the relevant de partments of the Member States 
at the annual meetings of the Article 83 Working Group, a nd reviewed by independent 
actuarial consultants. 
A summary of the main variables used (par ameters and actuarial assumptions) is given 
in Appendix I, Tables III and IV. 
5.2. Demographic parameters 
The reference population is made up of c ontributing members of the PSEO including: 
– active officials,  
– members whose pension contribution is optio nal (e.g. officials who have taken leave 
on personal grounds or parental leave), 
– invalids who receive an invalidity allowance under Article 78 of the Staff 
Regulations, 
– beneficiaries of an allowance for termination of service. 
54 223  contributing members were recorded at 31.12.2009, which represents a net 
increase of 4 270  participants compared to th e previous year (at 31.12.2008, 49 953 
were used in the 2009 actuarial assessment) 
This significant increase in the populati on is mainly explained by the continuing 
recruitment of “contract agents” (a new cat egory of population defined in the 2004 Staff 
Regulations) and temporary agents, and the incorporation into the population of Parliamentary Assistants (a new category in 2009). 
There are 8 966 contract agents among the contributing members at 31.12.2009, as 
against 7 654 at 31.12.2008, which represents an increase of 17.14%. There are 8 001 
temporary agents among the contributing members at 31.12.2009, as against 7 044 at 
31.12.2008, an increase of 13.59%. In addition , 1381 Parliamentary Assistants were 
included in the reference population for the first time this year. 
A breakdown of the reference population by  type of contribu ting member and by 
Institution or Agency is included in  Appendix I, Tables VI to VIII. 
EN 9   EN 5.3. Economic parameters 
In accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of Anne x XII to the Staff Regulations, the Real 
Discount Rate (RDR) and the General Salary Growth (GSG) are calc ulated in the 2010 
update as the average of the corresponding ra tes for the 12 preceding years (for more 
information see Appendix I to this report, points 5.4.1 and 5.4.2 and Tables XIV and XV). 
The value of the RDR is 2.8%  and that of the GSG is 0.3%  (these are the same values 
as those used in the 2009 assessment). Finally, an updated ISP table has been used (see Appendix I, point 5.4.3).  
5.4. Technical implementation of Annex XII to the Staff Regulations 
Technical questions raised by the implemen tation of Annex XII are dealt with by 
Eurostat in cooperation with national expe rts from the relevant departments of the 
Member States participating in the Wo rking Group on Article 83 of the Staff 
Regulations. The minutes of the meeting held in Luxembourg on 30 June 2010 (doc. 
20100624_Art83WG _09) are ava ilable from Eurostat. 
Eurostat also exchanges relevant informa tion on actuarial issues with international 
organisations such as the JPAS (Joint Pensions Administrative Section of the 
Coordinated Organisations) , EPO (European Patent Office) and EuroControl. 
5.5. Independent examination 
In accordance with Annex XII, Article 13, of the Staff Regulations, Eurostat was 
assisted by a qualified independent e xpert with regard to the methodological 
implementation and the definition and calculation of the corresponding actuarial assumptions. 
The independent expert then conducted an actua rial examination of the contribution rate 
calculated by Eurostat. This examination consisted in confirming the relevance and 
reliability of the actuarial processes and assumptions used in accordance with the methodology described in Annex X II to the Staff Regulations. 
For the aspects not described explicitly in Annex XII, th e independent expert checked 
their compliance with genera lly accepted actuarial prac tices. Concerning actuarial 
assumptions, the independent expert carried out investigations to ensure that the 
underlying data provided by Euro stat were used correctly. 
The executive summary of the assessment by th e independent expert is included in 
Appendix II to this report. 
EN 10   EN APPENDIX I - COMPUTATION  
1. RELEVANT FIGURES FOR CALCULATING THE CONTRIBUTION RATE  
 
 
Table I. Breakdown of the contribution rate 
Service costTotal contribution rate 
(3/3)Staff contribution rate 
(1/3)
Service cost for retirement 30.2% 10.1%
Service cost for invalidity 1.8% 0.6%Service cost for death 1.1% 0.3%
Total service cost 33.1% 11.0%
 
Table II. Service cost and total amount of annual basic salaries 
Service cost Total (EUR million) %
- Service cost for retirement 1 078 91.3%
- Service cost for invalidity  65 5.5%
- Service cost for death  38 3.2%
Total service cost 1 181 100.0%
Total annual basic salaries and 
invalidity and termination allowances3 574 100.0%
 
EN 11   EN 2. SUMMARY OF MAIN VARIABLES  
The following tables show the values of th e main parameters (see Table III) and 
actuarial assumptions (see Table IV). Pleas e note that the tables only present an 
overview of the main variables and are no t exhaustive. Please refer to the Staff 
Regulations and their annexes for precise and complete information. 
Table III. Parameters used in the actuarial assessment 
Parameter Value
Legal sourceStaff Regulations in force from 
01.05.2004
Reference date for the population (Annex XII Article 1) 31.12.2009
Maximum official retirement age (Staff Regulations 
Article 52)65 (67 on an exceptional basis)
Minimum official retirement age (Staff Regulations Article 
52 and Annex XIII Article 22)63 or before for officials in service 
before 01.05.2004
Minimum age for early retirement (Staff Regulations 
Article 52, Annex VIII Article 9 and Annex XIII Article 23)55 or before for officials in service 
before 01.05.2004
Category and grade for the minimum subsistence figure 
(Annex VIII Article 6)first step of grade 1
Maximum retirement pension (Staff Regulations Article 
77)70% of the basic salary at the 
retirement date
Annual accrual rate (Article 77 of the Staff Regulations 
and Article 21 of Annex XIII)1.9% or 2% for officials recruited before 
01.05.2004
Bonus for officials in service after the normal retirement 
age (Annex VIII Article 5 and Annex XIII Article 22)Barcelona incentive
Minimum retirement pension (Staff Regulations Article 
77)4% of the minimum subsistence figure 
per year of service
Invalidity allowance (Staff Regulations Article 78) 70% of the basic salary
Minimum invalidity allowance (Staff Regulations Article 
78)100% of the minimum subsistence 
figure
Reversion pension (Staff Regulations Article 79 and 
Annex VIII Article 18)60% of the retirement pension
Minimum reversionary pension (Staff Regulations Article 
79 and Annex VIII Article 18)35% of the last basic salary
Survivor's pension (Staff Regulations Article 79 and 
Annex VIII Article 17)60% of the retirement pension that 
would have been payable to the official 
Minimum survivor's pension (Staff Regulations Article 
79)35% of the last basic salary or minimum 
subsistence figure 
EN 12   EN Table IV. Actuarial assumptions 
Actuarial assumption Value
Average age difference between married men and 
women3 years
Probability of being married for men 84%
Probability of being married for women 38%Marital status status at evaluation date
Coefficient for orphan's and divorced spouse's pension 10%
Annex VIII coefficient (correction coefficient) 0.0%Assumed retirement age 63 to 64
Real discount rate (RDR) 2.8%
General salary growth (GSG) 0.3%General pension revaluation (GPR) 0.3% (equal to the GSG)
Individual salary progression (ISP) 2009 ISP table
Mortality table (healthy people) 2008 ICSLTMortality table (Invalids)
Mortality rate corresponding to a person 3 
years older than healthy person
Invalidity table 2009 EU Invalidity table 
Many of these actuarial assumptions are expl ained in the following points. Some of 
them have changed compared to the 2009 actuarial assessment. The following table 
summarises these changes: 
Table V. Changes in actuarial assumptions 
Assum ption Assessment
2009 2010
Real Discount Rate (RDR) (1) 2.8% 2.8%
General Salary Growth (GSG) (1) 0.3% 0.3%
ISP-1. Individual Salary Progression of Officials, 
recruited before 01.05.2004 (2)1.5% 1.5%
ISP-2. Individual Salary Progression  of 
Officials, recruited from 01.05.2004 onwards (2)1.9% 2.1%
ISP-3. Individual Salary Progression of 
Temporary Agents (3)0.4% 1.6%
ISP-4. Individual Salary Progression of Contract 
Agents (3)0.2% 1.0%
ISP-5. Individual Salary Progression of 
Parliamentary Assistants (4)n/a 0.0%
Life 2008 ICSLT 2008 ICSLT
Invalidity2008 EU Invalidity 
table2009 EU Invalidity 
table
(1) Average of 12 years preceding the year of the assessment
(2) Average of individual rates weighted by population as at 31.12.2009(3) 2009 estimated rate takes account of turnover. In 2010 assessment turnover is considered       separately in calculation(4) New category of personnel included in the 2010 assessment by the first time
 
EN 13   EN 3. DEMOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS  
3.1. Reference population 
Annex XII, Article 1 of the Staff Regulations  stipulates that the actuarial assessment 
shall be carried out in each year n, on the basis of the population of active members of 
the PSEO at 31 December of the previous year ( n-1). Moreover, Article 9 of Annex XII 
provides that the population of pa rticipants in the scheme is to be collected annually by 
the Commission using information received from  the different institutions and agencies 
whose staff are members of the scheme. 
In accordance with these rules, the reference population is taken to be the staff at 31 
December 2009 of the 49 institutions and agen cies (40 were recorded at 31 December 
2008) whose officials are members of the PSEO. 
Table VI. Institutions and Agencies in the PSEO 
Abbr. Name Abbr. Name
Institutions or assimilated organisms Agencies (next)
COR COMMITEE OF THE REGIONS EUROFOUND EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF 
LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS
CONSIL COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION EIGE EURO PEAN INSTITUTE FOR GENDER EQUALITY
CDCE COURT OF AUDITORS EIT EURO PEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND 
TECHNOLOGY
COJED COURT OF JUSTICE OF EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES EMSA EUROPEAN MARITIME SAFETY AGENCY
CSC ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE EMCDDA EURO PEAN MONITORING CENTRE FOR DRUGS AND 
DRUG-ADDICTION
CEC EUROPEAN COMMISSION EFRA EUROPEAN MONITORING CENTRE FOR RACISM AND 
XENOPHOBIA
EDPS EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR ENISA EUROPEAN NETWORK AND INFORMATION SECURITY 
AGENCY
EO EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN CEPOL EUROPEAN POLICE COLLEGE
EUROPARL EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ERA EUROPEAN RAILWAYS AGENCY
AgenciesERC EUROPEAN RESEA RCH COUNCIL EXECUTIVE AGENCY
FRONTEX AGENCY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OPERATIONAL CO-
OPERATION AT EXTERNAL BORDERS OF MEMBETF EUROPEAN TRAINING FOUNDATION
ARTEMIS ARTEMIS JOINT UNDERTAKING EACI EXECUTIVE AGENCY FOR CONPETITIVENESS AND 
INNOVATION
SKY CLEAN SKY JOINT UNDERTAKING EAA EXECUTIVE AGENCY FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH 
PROGRAM
CFCA COMMUNITY FISHERIES CONTROL AGENCY FCH FUEL CELLS AND HYDROGEN JOINT UNDERTAKING
CPVO COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETIES OFFICE IMI INNOVATIVE MEDICAMENTS INITIATIVE JOINT 
UNDERTAKING
EACEA EDUCATION, AUDIOVISUAL AND CULTURE EXECUTIVE 
AGENCYJET JOINT EUROPEAN TORUS (J.E.T.)
ENIAC ENIAC JOINT UNDERTAKING EUROJUST JUDICIAL COOPERATION
EAR EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION OHIM OFFICE FOR HARMONISATION IN THE INTERNAL 
MARKET
OSHA EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT 
WORKREA RESEA RCH EXECUTIVE AGENCY
EMEA EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR THE EVALUATION OF 
MEDICAL PRODUCTSSSR SESAR JOINT UNDERTAKING
EASA EUROPEAN AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY ECHA THE EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY
ECDC EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND 
CONTROLGSA THE EUROPEAN GNSS SUPERVISORY AUTORITY
CEDEFOP EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
VOCATIONAL TRAININGITER THE EUROPEAN JOINT UNDERTAKING FOR ITER AND 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUSION ENERGY
EEA EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY TNT-T THE TRANS-EUROPEAN TRASNPORT NETWORK 
EXECUTIVE AGENCY
EFSA EUROPEAN FOOD SE CURITY AUTHORITY CDT TRANSLATION CENTRE FOR BODIES OF THE 
EUROPEAN UNION  
As approved by the Article 83 Working Group at its meeting of 7 June 2004, the term 
“active members of the PSEO” is considered in the wide sense to be synonymous with 
“contributing members of the PSEO”. Conseq uently, the reference population includes 
not only officials in “active employment” but also officials in one of the other 
administrative statuses set out in Article 35 of the Staff Regulations, plus invalids who 
EN 14   EN receive an invalidity allowance and benefici aries of an allowance for termination of 
service. 
Personnel data were collected from the NAP2 (New Application for Pay), from PMO3 
and directly from institutions and agencies , and imported into the Eurostat database. 
The data were checked to guarantee a high le vel of quality. The actuarial assessment is 
based on the output from the Eurostat database at the calculation date. 
Table VII. Reference population by administrative status 
Contributin g members 31.12.2008 31.12.2009 Yearly
Total Wei ght Total Wei ght chan ge
Active
- Officials 34 509 69.1% 35 206 64.9% 2.0%
- Temporary staff 7 044 14.1% 8 001 14.8% 13.6%- Contract staff 7 654 15.3% 8 966 16.5% 17.1%- Parliamentary Assistant n/a n/a 1 381 2.5% n/a
Non-active staff  (1)  746 1.5%  669 1.2% -10.3%
Total population 49 953 100.0% 54 223 100.0% 8.5%
(1). Non-active status (Article 41), retirement in the interests of the service (Article 50), termination of service under 
special measures ("degagement"), invalids who receive an invalidity allowance under Article 78.
 
This increase in the population is mainly ex plained by the recruitment of contract agents 
and temporary agents, and the incorporation of Pa rliamentary assistants. 
                                                 
2 The NAP application is a centralised database that  has been created to produce the monthly salary and 
pension forms for all institutions and agencies. This database contains a large part of the personnel data, particularly amounts paid and pension contributions. 
3 PMO use the Sysper database of the Commission to store data about transfers of pension rights of the staff 
of the Commission and agencies, and data about pensioners. 
EN 15   EN Table VIII. Reference population by institution or agency 
Institution or A gency 31.12.2008 31.12.2009
Total % Total %
European Commission 31 340  63% 31 809  59%
European Parliament 6 320  13% 7 943  15%Council of the European Union 3 362  7% 3 533  7%
Court of Justice of the European 
Communities1 998  4% 2 162  4%
Court of Auditors  876  2%  979  2%
Economic and Social Committee  746  1%  808  1%
Committee of the Regions  524  1%  593  1%
Other small institutions and decentralised 
Community agencies 4 787  10% 6 396  12%
Total 49 953  100% 54 223  100%
 
Figure I. Reference population by age 
6,000
5,500
5,000
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,0005000500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,00020 - 2425 - 2930 - 3435 - 3940 - 4445 - 4950 - 5455 - 5960 - 64>64Ages
Number of personsMen:      24058
Women: 30165
 
3.2. Assumed retirement age 
As stipulated in Article 4 of  Annex XII to the Staff Regulat ions, it is assumed that all 
retirements will occur at a fixed average age ( r). The average retirement age may be 
different according to the group of staff. 
EN 16   EN Table IX. Assumed retirement age and Barcelona incentive by age group of officials 
 Staff group (age and years of 
service as at 30.04.2004)Barcelona 
incentiveBarcelona 
incentive 
maximumNormal 
retirement 
ageAssumed retirement 
age (4)
(1) (2) (3) Actives Invalids
Group 1 Old Staff Regulations 2.00% 60  63  65  
Group 2>= 50 years old or    >= 
20 years of service2.00% 60  63  63  
Group 340 - 49 years old and < 
20 years of service2.00% 3.00% 4.50% 61  63  63  
Group 435 - 39 years old and < 
20 years of service2.00% 2.75% 4.00% 62  63  63  
Group 530 - 34 years old and < 
20 years of service2.00% 2.50% 3.50% 63  64  64  
Group 6< 30 years old and     < 
20 years of service2.00% 2.00% - 63  64  64  
Group 7New officials (after 
30.04.2004)1.90% 2.00% - 63  64  64  Annual 
accrual rate
(5)
(1) The Barcelona incentive corresponds to an increase in pension expressed as a percentage of the last basic salary 
(Article 5 of Annex VIII and Article 22 of Annex XIII).
(2)  The Barcelona incentive maximum is a percentage of the total pension rights acquired by an official at the age of 
60 (Article 5 of Annex VIII and Article 22 of Annex XIII).
This column shows these average ages by staff group, which have been deduced from the observations in 
accordance with Article 9 of Annex XII.
(5)  Officials, aged 50 years or over or with 20 or more years service as at 30/04/2004, who remain in service after the 
normal retirement age are entitled, for each year worked after that age, to an increase in 
their pension equal to 5% of the amount of the pension rights acquired at the age of 60 (the same premise was 
applied in the past under the former Staff Regulations)..For example, the Barcelona incentive for officials aged between 40 and 49 is 3% of the last basic salary but not 
exceeding 4.5% of the pension rights acquired by those officials at the age of 60.
(3)  The age in this column is the simple average of ages from the table detailed in Article 22 of Annex XII, rounded to 
entire year. This average is calculated only to facilitate the presentation in this table.
In practice, institutions apply the table detailed in Article 22  of Annex XIII when calculating individual rights. Eurostat 
does not use this column when calculating the contribution rate for pension; assumed retirement ages detailed in columns (4) are used instead.
(4)  In accordance with to Article 3 of Annex XII, it is assumed that all retirements (except for invalidity) will occur at a 
fixed average age.
 
EN 17   EN 3.3. Invalidity table  
A first invalidity table (2004-EU Invalidity table) was used in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 
assessments of the PSEO. This invalidity table was presented to the Article 83 Working Group at its 7 June 2004 meeting. 
The table was updated on the occasion of the 2007 actuarial assessment to take account 
of the evolution of  beneficiaries of invalidity allowance  (a new category of population 
under the new Staff Regulation in force from 1 May 2004). This new table was 
presented to the Article 83 Working Group at  its 26 June 2007 meeting (see document 
20070623 Art83 WG 07 Assumptions EN, ava ilable on CIRCA) and it was decided to 
update the table each year us ing as input a moving average of 5 years of invalidity 
observation. 
The number of invalids recorded in 2004 (103) has been replaced by the number 
recorded in 2009 (93) in the moving 5 years average of invalidity observations. Thus the 
total of invalids in this 5-year period decreased from 510 to 500 invalids 
The following table shows the number of invalids from 2005 to 2009. 
Table X. Invalids by year 
Year Invalids
2005 122
2006 108
2007 882008 892009 93
Total 500
 
The decrease in the number of invalids, in conjunction with the increase of the active 
population makes the probability of becomi ng an invalid lower than in the past. 
The 2005 to 2009 invalidity observations have been used to update the invalidity table 
by sex (2009-EU Invalidity table). The follo wing table is an extract from the unisex 
version of the table. The unise x version is only used for pr esentation; the complete table 
by sex is used in computation. 
Table XI. 2009-EU Invalidity table — Unisex version 
AgeInvalidity (probability of 
becoming an invalid)
xq ' x
20 0.000050
25 0.00007230 0.00014735 0.00040440 0.00125945 0.00226050 0.00379155 0.00601060 0.005328
65 0.002653
 
EN 18   EN 3.4. Life table of healthy persons 
The life table used for the calculation was updated in 2008 (2008 ISCLT table) on the 
occasion of the five-yearly assessment of th e actuarial balance of the pension scheme. 
The methodology used to set up this life tabl e was presented to the Article 83 Working 
Group at the 27 June 2008 meeting ( document 20080627 Art83_05, available from 
Eurostat). The 2008 ISCLT life table must be used at least until the next five-yearly 
assessment in 2013. 
Consequently, the 2008 ICSLT has been used in the 2010 pension assessment. 
The following table is an extract from this table:  
Table XII. 2008 ICSLT 
Men Women
AgeDying 
probabilityLife 
expectancyDeseaseLiving 
individualsDying probabilityLife 
expectancy
x, y qx ex dx lx q y ey
40 0.00063370 44 57 98 573 0.00054775 46
45 0.00106107 39  94 98 187 0.00092086 42
50 0.00176523 35 156 97 542 0.00152344 37
55 0.00282667 30 250 96 494 0.00242203 3260 0.00481751 25  411 94 813 0.00372321 28
65 0.00838934 21 696 91 962 0.00605132 23
70 0.01458993 17 1 154 87 190 0.01074871 1975 0.02531453 13 1 844 79 451 0.01863843 15
80 0.04374552 10 2 758 67 558 0.03307728 12
85 0.07506895 8 3 681 50 912 0.05836406 9
90 0.12727809 5 4 026 31 080 0.10193574 6
 
3.5. Life table of invalids 
It is normal actuarial practice to consider life  expectancy of invalids as slightly shorter 
than that of healthy persons (e.g. EuroCont rol applies the mortality rate corresponding 
to a healthy person 3 years older than an invalid’s age). This approach cannot be 
confirmed in the case of European civil serv ants as the number of invalids is too small. 
Eurostat considers this approach very logica l and has applied the same actuarial practice 
in its own actuarial calculations. 
The use of this approach makes hardly a ny change in the contribution because the 
probability of an active staff member  becoming invalid is very small. 
The implementation of this approach in the 2008 pension assessment had a negligible 
impact, close to 0 percentage point s, on the pension contribution rate. 
3.6. Average age difference between men and women  
The average age difference between married men and women (3 years) that has been 
applied from 2004 in actuarial calculations sh ould be used in future assessments. The 
result of a test based on population from 2004 to 2007 confirmed that this actuarial 
assumption corresponds to reality. The test showed that on average married men are 
3.01 years older than their pa rtners and married women 3.1 8 years younger than their 
partners. 
EN 19   EN 3.7. Probability of being married for men and women 
In 2008 Eurostat analysed the recent populatio n of officials and ex -officials older than 
59 years and calculated the probability of th em being married. The probabilities found 
for men and women are:  
0.84 for men (0.8 to one decimal place) 
0.38 for women (0.4 to one decimal place) 
These updated probabilities were used in th e 2008 and in this 2010 pension assessment. 
EN 20   EN 4. ECONOMIC PARAMETERS  
4.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR) 
Annex XII, Article 10 of the St aff Regulations provides that:  
1. The interest rates to be taken into consid eration for the actuaria l calculations shall 
be based on the observed average annual interest rates on the long-term public debt of Member States as published by the Commi ssion. An appropriate consumer price index 
shall be used to calculate the corresponding in terest rate net of in flation as needed for 
the actuarial calculations.  
2. The effective annual rate to be taken into consideration for the actuarial calculations 
shall be the average of the real average interest rates for the 12 years preceding the current year.  
Consequently, real discount rates (RDR) from 1998 until 20 09 have to be used in the 
2010 assessment of the PSEO.  
Nominal discount rate:
 Average of 1998 to 2009 nominal rates of Euro area zero-
coupon (government bonds) yield with a maturity of 21 years, 21 years being the duration of the scheme, the rate in 2008 as produced by the ECB being 4.4%): . 5.0%   
Inflation rate:
 Average of 1998 to 2009 a ppropriate consumer pric e index; the HICP of 
EU area in 2009 being 1.0%: 2.1%  
Real discount rate:  Average of 1998 to 2009 real di scount rates; the last being 
calculated as "100*(100+NDR)/(100+IR)-100)": 2.8%  (it was the same in the 2009 
assessment). 
The 12 years moving average of real discount rates (RDR) that has been calculated this 
time (2.8%), will be used in the final asse ssment of the PSEO to be published by 1 
September 2010. 
EN 21   EN Table XIII. Real Discount Rate (RDR)  
YearNominal rate 
(NDR)Inflationrate  (IR) Real discount rate (RDR)
(1) (2) (3)
1997 6.1 2.1 3.9
1998 4.9 1.7 3.1
1999 5.6 1.1 4.5
2000 5.9 2.4 3.4
2001 5.7 2.5 3.1
2002 5.5 2.2 3.2
2003 5.1 2.0 3.0
2004 5.0 2.1 2.8
2005 4.0 2.2 1.8
2006 4.2 2.2 2.0
2007 4.5 2.3 2.2
2008 4.8 3.7 1.1
2009 4.7 1.0 3.7
Aver. 1997 - 2008 5.1 2.2 2.8
Aver. 1998 - 2009 5.0 2.1 2.8
(1) 
(2) (3) Till 1998: long-term government borrowing rates. Since 1999: Euro zero-coupon 
government bond curve with a maturity of 21 years.
Till 1998: National Accounts private cons umption deflator. Since 1999: Harmonised 
Index of Consumer Prices (HICP).
The following formula is used:  RDR = 100*(100+NDR)/(100+IR)-100
 
EN 22   EN 4.2. General Salary Growth (GSG) 
As for the discount rate, Annex XII contai ns specific rules for calculating General 
Salary Growth. Article 11 stipulates on the one hand that the annua l change in salary 
scales to be used for the actuarial calcula tions must be based on the specific indicator 
(SI) and on the other hand that th e effective annual rate is th e average of the net SIs for 
the 12 years preceding the current year.  
In 2009 the European Commission proposed an ad justment of salaries and pensions of 
3.7% with effect from 1 July 2009. The Council  adopted with effect from 1 July 2009 
an increase of remunerations and pensi ons of only 1.85%, which, combined with the 
Brussels International Index (B II) inflation rate of 0.9%, led to a calculated  SI of 0.94%, 
(1.009 x 1.0094 = 1.0185).  
As the net SI applied in 2009 is 0.94% (0.9%  to one decimal place), the 12-year moving 
geometric average from 1998 to 2009 (GSG) is 0.3%  (the same as this used in the 2009 
assessment). 
Table XIV. General Salary Growth  
Year SI
1997 0.7
1998 0.5
1999 1.8
2000 -0.1
2001 0.6
2002 1.7
2003 1.1
2004 -1.2
2005 0.0
2006 0.2
2007 0.0
2008 -1.3
2009 0.9
GSG (Aver. 1997 - 2008) 0.3
GSG (Aver. 1998 - 2009) 0.3 
4.3. Individual Salary Progression (ISP) 
4.3.1.  Population groups 
The Individual Salary Progression (ISP) refers to the salary increase due to the career 
advancement of EU officials, i.e. promotions and seniority steps.  
The ISP has a significant impact on the cont ribution rate, though less  than that of the 
RDR and GSG.  
With the introduction of the new Staff Re gulations on 1.5.2004, the career progression 
of EU officials has been co mpletely reviewed. Annex XIII  of these Staff Regulations 
includes transitional measures which made the determination of this assumption quite complicated.  
EN 23   EN This time, the active population has been divided into the following 5 homogeneous 
groups: 
(1) Officials recruited before 01.05.2004 
(2) Officials recruite d from 01.05.2004 onwards 
(3) Temporary Agents 
(4) Contract Agents 
(5) Parliamentary Assistants 
The groups above are slightly different from those used in the 2009 assessment. 
The weight of each of these new groups in the total population is shown in Table XV 
below. 
Table XV. Weight of the active  population by ISP group at 31.12.2009 
ISP Group Weight
1 Officials recruited before 01.05.200449%
2 Officials recruited from 01.05.2004 onwards17%
3 Temporary Agent15%
4 Contract Agent17%
5 Parliamentary Assistant3%
Total 100% 
4.3.2.  Turnover 
The ISP of the population groups above is in fluenced by their turnover rates (affecting 
career progression and seniority  increases: salary increases are thus small for staff 
having fixed contracts.  
All cctive members of the PSEO (Officials, Temporary Agents, Contract Agents and 
Parliamentary Assistants) will definitely stop activity one day fo r several reasons and 
eventually leave the pension scheme. 
To facilitate computation, turnover ha s been divided into two types: 
• Turnover due to end of contract validity. 
• Turnover due to voluntary and unexpected departures . (This concerns resignation 
before the end of a contract, di smissal for incompetence, etc.) 
Departures due to other unexpected reas ons (invalidity and death) and voluntary 
decisions (mainly secondment, retirement, non active status according to Article 41 of 
SR, leave on personal grounds, leave for military service, parental or family leave) are 
EN 24   EN excluded from the definition of turnover as these causes of leaving are already 
computed in another way. 
ISP rates to be applied to o fficials (ISP groups 1 and 2 above ) have been updated to take 
account of the observed promotion rates from  2005 to 2009 (the methodology agreed at 
the June 2006 Art83 WG meeting). Turnover ha s been considered when calculating ISP 
rates for groups 3 to 4.  
4.3.3.  ISP rates 
The following table shows weighted ISP rates by groups of active population:  
Table XVI. Weighted ISP rates by  group of active population 
ISP groupsAverage ISP 
rate by group
1 Officials recruited before 01.05.2004 1.5%
2 Officials recruited from 01.05.2004 onwards 2.1%
3 Temporary agents 1.6%
4 Contract agents 1.0%
5 PA. Fixed contract. Art 130 0.0%
 
ISP rates in the table above are the average of ISP rates weighted by the population in 
each group. These average rates are calc ulated for publication purposes only, the 
detailed rates by grade and years to retire being used in computation. 
The ISP rates used in this assessment cannot directly be compared to those used in the 
2009 assessment as the methodology to comput e turnover and ISP rates has changed. 
The updated methodology was presented at the June 2010 meeting of Article 83 WG. 
The implementation of the improved met hodology concerning turnover and the use of 
the new ISP rates slightly decreases the serv ice cost and thus the pension contribution 
rate to finance it. The combined impact is around -0.2 percentage points in the pension 
contribution rate. 
4.4. Loading factor for orphan’s and divorced spouse’s pension  
Current actuarial practice is to add 10% to a payable reversion pension to allow for the 
pension payable to orphans afte r the death of the surviving s pouse (or of the official if 
there is no surviving spouse) and any pens ion payable to divorced spouses. Eurostat 
estimates that the impact of this factor on the contribution rate is minor and the same assumption has been used in the 2010 actuarial assessment.  
EN 25   EN 5. ANNUITIES  
Articles 6 to 8 of Annex XII to the Staff Regul ations refer to the annuities used in the 
calculation. The values of these annuities according to age are presented below. 
In order to comply with Commission polic y on equal opportunitie s, values are not 
presented by sex. However, Eurostat conduc ted its analyses taki ng into account all 
relevant features of the population, includi ng sex. The figures are aggregated by 
weighted averages only for presentation in this report. 
The table below was calculated using: 
– the Real Discount Rate (RDR) from Table XIII, 
– the General Salary Growth (GSG) from Table XIV, 
– an assumed retirement age ( r) equal to 64 years of age for officials younger than 35 
on the reference date (31.12.2003) and equal to 63 years of age for the others, 
where: x is the age of the official, 
y is the age of the official’s spouse, 
m = r – x  (number of years between the official’s age and the assumed retirement age), 
y = x ± 3 according to the sex of the official. 
Table XVII. Some annuities in accordance with Articles 6 to 8 of Annex XII to the Staff 
Regulations 
Immediate
Ageannuity at 
age xreversionary annuity at 
ages x and yannuity at 
age xreversionary annuity at 
ages x and yAge annuity at age 
y
xm|axm | axy ax axy y ay
21 4.899242 0.718630 26.260384 0.254617 21 31.833127
25 5.308594 1.160548 24.779962 0.278019 25 30.746411
30 6.137150 1.253527 22.741496 0.278850 30 29.536636
35 7.445991 1.595564 19.961651 0.261250 35 28.059108
40 8.522135 1.918554 17.297921 0.255103 40 26.427902
45 9.820874 2.180285 14.306024 0.227747 45 24.67096750 11.291756 2.575876 10.942157 0.177811 50 22.682307
55 13.034030 3.009815 7.154873 0.104261 55 20.505024
60 15.190133 3.346189 2.865001 0.026529 60 18.192256
63 16.631260 3.722760 0.000000 0.000000 63 16.631260Immediate deferred Immediate temporary 
 
  m|ax is described in article 6 § 3a
  m|axy is described in article 6 § 3b
      ax is described in article 7 § 2a
      axy is described in article 7 § 2b
      ay is described in article 8 § 2
EN 26   EN APPENDIX II – INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION  
An independent expert conducted an actuari al examination of th e contribution rate 
calculated by Eurostat. This examination consisted in confirming the relevance and 
reliability of the actuarial processes and assumptions used in accordance with the methodology described in Annex XII to the Staff Regulations. For the elements not 
described explicitly in this Annex, the i ndependent expert checked their compliance 
with generally accepted actua rial practices. Regarding th e actuarial assumptions, the 
independent expert carried out investigations to ensure that the underlying data provided 
by Eurostat were used correctly. 
The independent expert report concluded that: 
"… as an independent exper t, has conducted an actuar ial examination of the 2010 
update of the actuarial assessmen t of the pension scheme refe rred to in Article 83a (3) 
of the new Staff Regulations for which Eurostat endorsed the technical responsibility 
towards the Commission according to the An nex XII “Rules for implementing Article 
83a of the Staff Regulations”. This examina tion consisted in confirming the relevance 
and the reliability of the act uarial processes and assumptions  used in accordance with 
the methodology described in Annex XII to ev aluate the contribution rate of officials. 
For the aspects explicitly mentioned in Annex XI I, we did not detect any elements likely 
to cast doubt that the calcula tions determined by Eurostat  are not compliant with the 
rules of Annex XII. 
For the aspects not described explicitly in Annex XII, we have checked their compliance 
with the generally accepted actuarial prac tices and we did not de tect any significant 
difference with the methodology and the assumptions we  would have chosen ourselves 
to perform the calculations. 
… has no reasons to doubt that  the official’s contribution rate (11.0%) calculated by 
Eurostat is a sufficiently accura te estimate of the reality…". 
The complete independent expert report on th e actuarial examination of the contribution 
rate is available from Eurostat.