EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 21.11.2008 
SEC(2008) 2873 
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
 
Articles 83 and 83a and Annex XI I of the Staff Regulations 
  
Report on the 2008 actuarial assessment of the 
Pension Scheme for European Officials (PSEO)  
  
Reference date: 31 December 2007 
  
REPORT 
 
Eurostat, Unit D-5 Remuneration and Pensions 
Luxembourg, 1 September 2008 
COM(2008) 787 final 
 
EN 2   EN CONTENTS 
 
 
1. Contribution rate .............................................................................................................. .. 5 
2. Update of the assessment of the actuarial balance ............................................................. 5  
3. Analysis of the contribution rate change............................................................................ 6  
3.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR) change effect .................................................................... 6 3.2. General Salary Growth (GSG) change effect............................................................... 6 3.3. ISP change effect......................................................................................................... .6  
3.4. Invalidity table effect ................................................................................................... 6 
3.5. Life table effect (healthy persons)................................................................................ 6 3.6. Life table effect (invalid persons) ................................................................................ 7 3.7. Assumed retirement age............................................................................................... 7 3.8. Average difference between men and women ............................................................. 8 3.9. Probability of being married for men and women ....................................................... 8 3.10. Loading factor for orphan’s and divorced spouse’s pension ....................................... 8 3.11. Population change effect.............................................................................................. 8 4. Computation system........................................................................................................... 9  
4.1. Variables used in the assessment ................................................................................. 9 4.2. Demographic parameters ............................................................................................. 9 4.2.1.  The reference population.............................................................................................. 9  
4.3. Economic parameters................................................................................................... 9 4.4. Technical implementation of Annex XII to the Staff Regulations ............................ 10 4.5. Independent examination ........................................................................................... 10 5. Annex I — Computation.................................................................................................. 11  
5.1. Relevant figures for calcul ating the contribution rate................................................ 11 
5.2. Summary of main variables ....................................................................................... 12 5.3. Demographic parameters ........................................................................................... 14 5.3.1.  Reference population ................................................................................................. 14  
5.3.2.  Assumed retirement age............................................................................................. 18  
5.3.3.  Invalidity table ........................................................................................................... 19  
5.3.4.  Life table of healthy persons...................................................................................... 20  
5.3.5.  Life table of invalids .................................................................................................. 21  
5.3.6.  Average age difference between men and women..................................................... 21  
5.3.7.  Probability of being married for men and women ..................................................... 21  
 
EN 3   EN 5.4. Economic parameters................................................................................................. 22 
5.4.1.  Real Discount Rate (RDR)......................................................................................... 22  
5.4.2.  General Salary Growth (GSG)................................................................................... 24  
5.4.3.  Individual Salary Progression (ISP)........................................................................... 24  
5.4.4.  Loading factor for orphan’s and divorced spouse’s pension ..................................... 25  
5.5. Annuities ................................................................................................................. ... 26 
6. Annex II — Independent examination ............................................................................. 27  
 
 
EN 4   EN 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). 
Article 83a(3) stipulates that on the occasion of the five-yearly actuarial assessment in 
accordance with Annex XII and in order to ensu re the balance of the scheme, the Council 
shall decide on the rate of contribution and any change to the pensionable age. Article 83a(4) 
requires the Commission to present to the Council each year an updated version of the 
actuarial assessment, in accordance w ith Article 1(2) of Annex XII. 
Finally, Article 83a(5) stipulates that for the purposes of paragr aphs 3 and 4 of that Article, 
the Council is to act by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, as provided 
for in the first indent of Article 205(2) of th e EC Treaty. For the purpos es of paragraph 3, the 
Commission’s proposal is to be  presented after consultati on of the Staff Regulations 
Committee. 
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 acc ordance with the above legal requirements. 
This report sets out the result s of the 2008 actuarial assessment of the pension scheme of the 
European civil service, based on the populatio n of European officials as at 31 December 
2007. 
The report provides the information needed by the Commission to propose, if necessary, 
changes to the staff contribution rate and to the pensionable age in order to ensure the balance 
of the scheme. 
For any further information concerning this repor t, please contact Eurostat in Luxembourg: 
 
Eurostat, Unit D-5 Secretariat 
BECH - B3/304 
L-2920 Luxembourg 
Tel.: (352) 4301-34191 
 
EN 5   EN 1. C ONTRIBUTION RATE  
The 2008 actuarial assessment of the Pensi on Scheme for European Officials (PSEO) 
indicates that, in order to guarantee the equilibrium of the scheme, the contribution rate necessary to finance one third of the benefits payable would be 10.9%  of the 
basic salary (or invalidity allowance). This actuarial assessment was presented to the Article 83 Working Group at the 27 June 2008 meeting. 
According to Article 83a of the Staff Regulations, where it is shown that there is a 
gap of at least 0.25 points between the rate of contribution currently applied 
(10.25%) and the rate required to maintain actuarial balance ( 10.9% ), the Council 
shall consider whether the rate should be adapted, in accordance with arrangements 
laid down in Annex XII
1. This Annex also stipulates that any adjustment shall not 
lead to a contribution being more than one percentage point above  or below the valid 
rate of the previous year2. 
Consequently, as the gap between the calculated (10.9%) and the current (10.25%) 
contribution rates is more than 0.25 points, the contribution rate to be applied from 1 
July 2008  should be 10.9%. 
The calculated contribution ra te indicated above (10.9%) is  one third of the ratio 
between the total of the service cost (1  002 million euros) and the total of annual 
basic salaries (3 056 million euros) (see A nnex I, Tables I and II). This rate is higher 
(+0.6%) than the one calculated in 2007 (10.3 %). This considerable increase is 
mainly explained by the fall in the interest  rate and the update of the life table (see 
point 3 for further explana tions about this change). 
2. U PDATE OF THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ACTUARIAL BALANCE  
The PSEO was assessed on the basis of the computation method set out in Chapter 2 
of Annex XII of the Staff Regulations. 
Compared to the 2004 assessment, a few minor changes were introduced in the 
methodology (some formulae were adapted to  take some new categories of the 
population into account, according to the St aff Regulations in force since 1 May 
2004). These changes have been a pplied since the 2006 assessment. 
An updated document concerning the calcula tion methodology is available and can 
be obtained from Eurostat on request. 
In addition, the following elements have  been considered in the 2008 assessment: 
– The population of contributing members at 31 December 2007, 
– The update of the Real Discount Rate (RDR ), General Salary Growth (GSG) rate, 
Individual Salary Progression (ISP) ra te, Life table, I nvalidity table and 
probability of being married by sex. 
More details about these upda tes are given in Annex I. 
                                                 
1 Article 83a(4) of the Staff Regulations. 
2 Article 2(1) of Annex XI I to the Staff Regulations. 
 
EN 6   EN 3. A NALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTION RATE CHANGE  
As indicated in point 1, the official’s pens ion contribution rate ca lculated this year 
(10.9%) is higher than the one calculated in 2007 (10.3%). This considerable 
increase ( +0.6%) results from the combined e ffect of changes in the population 
structure and the main actuarial assumptions . The separate effects of these changes 
on the contribution rate is not easy to de termine due to their interdependency, 
although analysis of the act uarial assumptions allows a better understanding of the 
changes in contribution rate and its sensit ivity to the various actuarial assumptions. 
Changes in actuarial assumptions and th eir impact on the contribution rate were 
presented at the 27 June 2008 meeting of  the Article 83 Working Group (see 
document 20080627 Art83_06) 
3.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR) change effect 
The RDR decreases (3.1% as  against 3.4% used in the 2007 calculation). This 
decrease (-0.3) has an im pact of around +0.8 percen tage points on the pension 
contribution rate. If the former RDR is  used, 10.1% is obtained instead of 10.9%. 
This test, this year, confirms that the official’s contribution rate sensitivity is about 2.5 times the change in the RDR. 
3.2. General Salary Growth  (GSG) change effect 
The GSG decreases (0.4% as against 0.5% in the 2007 calculation). This decrease (-
0.1) has an impact of around -0.3 percentage points on the pension contribution rate. 
If the former GSG rate is used, 11.2% is obtained instead of 10.9%. This test, this 
year, confirms that the official’s contribu tion rate sensitivity is  about 2.5 times the 
change in the GSG (similar to the RDR).  
3.3. ISP change effect 
The ISP decreased overall in the 2008 valuat ion (1.5%) compared to 2007 (1.6%). In 
practice, a different ISP rate by grade, step  and years to retirement is applicable to 
officials and temporary agents of agencies and is used in the cal culation. The overall 
decrease has a negligible impact, close to 0 percentage points, on the pension 
contribution rate compared with the one obt ained with the former  ISP table (10.9% is 
obtained in both cases).  
3.4. Invalidity table effect 
The probability of becoming invalid decr eases if the most recently observed 
invalidity rates are taken into account. Th e invalidity table was consequently updated 
(2008 EU Invalidity table). The use of this updated table has an impact of around -0.1 percentage points on the pension contri bution rate. A contri bution rate of 11.0% 
instead of 10.9% is obtained if the form er 2007 EU Invalidity table was used.  
3.5. Life table effect (healthy persons) 
According to the Staff Regulations the lif e table must relate to a population which 
has characteristics as close as possible to  those of the population of members of the 
scheme. It is to be updated only on th e occasion of the five-yearly actuarial 
assessment
3. Consequently, the life table was updated on the occasion of this 2008 
actuarial assessment. 
                                                 
3 Article 9(2) of Annex XI I to the Staff Regulations. 
 
EN 7   EN The former EU-2004 Life table was used in the annual assessments of the PSEO 
from 2004 to 2007. It was built by Eurostat  in 2003 to take into account the 
population of members of the PSEO and wa s presented to the Article 83 Working 
Group at the April 2003 meeting. 
The real mortality rate in the period 2004-2007 was analysed and compared to the 
expected mortality according to the EU-2004 Life  table. The result of this analysis is 
that mortality in ages 30 to 69 is lowe r and mortality for ages above 70 is higher 
compared to the EU-2004 Life table. Furthe r details about this analysis can be found 
in document 20080627 Art83_04. 
Eurostat presented a pension assessmen t using a new life table with the new 
mortality rates to the Article 83 Working Group in June 2008. This new life table, the 2008 ICSLT (International Civil Servants Life  Table), is the resu lt of an ESTAT and 
JPAS
4 joint project aimed at  drawing up a common life table based on a large 
population of civil servants posted in Eu rope. The methodology used to set up this 
life table is fully explained in document 20080627 Art83_05. 
This life table has been certified by an external actuarial expert who also 
recommended the regular updating of life tables. It was used  in the present 
calculation. 
The use of the 2008 ICSLT instead of the fo rmer 2004 EU Life ta ble in the present 
assessment has an impact  of around +0.2 percenta ge points on the pension 
contribution rate. If the former mortality rates were used, 10.7% is obtained instead 
of 10.9%. 
3.6. Life table effect (invalid persons) 
It is normal actuarial practice to consider life expectancy of invalids as slightly 
shorter than that of hea lthy persons (e.g. Eurocontrol applies the mortality rate 
corresponding to a healthy person 3 years olde r than an invalid’s age). This approach 
cannot be confirmed in the case of European  civil servants as the number of invalids 
is too small for this. Eurostat considers this approach very logical and applied the same actuarial practice for the first time in this 2008 pension assessment. 
The use of this approach makes hardly any change in the contribution because the 
probability of an active staff member  becoming invalid is very small. 
The implementation of this approach has a negligible impact, close to 0 percentage 
points, on the pension cont ribution rate (10.9% is obtained in both cases). 
3.7. Assumed retirement age 
Assumed retirement ages by staff groups were estimated on the occasion of the 2004 
pension assessment, were presented at the June 2004 meeting of the Article 83 
Working Group and have been used in pension assessments since 2004. These assumed retirement ages have been checked  on the occasion of this 2008 pension 
assessment and no change was proposed at the June 2008 meeting of the Article 83 Working Group (for further details, see document 20080627 Art83_06). 
                                                
 
4 The JPAS (Joint Pension Administrative Section) is a section working for the six Coordinated 
Organisations and attached to the OECD. 
 
EN 8   EN 3.8. Average difference between men and women 
The average age difference between men and women (3 years) that has been applied 
from 2004 in actuarial calculations should be used in future assessments. The result of a test based on population from 2004 to 2007 confirms that this actuarial 
assumption corresponds to reality. The test showed that on average married men are 
3.01 years older than their partners and ma rried women 3.18 year s younger than their 
partners. 
3.9. Probability of being married for men and women 
Eurostat has analysed the recent (20 04 to 2007) population of 46 418 officials and 
ex-officials older than 59 years and calcula ted the probability of  them being married. 
The following probabilities were used in this 2008 pension assessment:  
0.84 for men  
0.38 for women  
The change in probability of being married  (0.84 instead of 0.90 in the past for men 
and 0.38 instead of 0.60 in the past for women) has an impact of around -0.1 
percentage points on th e pension contribution rate. If th e former rates had been used, 
11.0% would have been obt ained instead of 10.9%. 
3.10. 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 after the death of the surviving spouse (or of the 
official if there is no surviving spouse) a nd any pension payable to divorced spouses. 
Eurostat estimates that the impact of this factor on the contributi on rate is minor and 
does not consider an update to this assu mption necessary at the present time.  
3.11. Population change effect 
The impact of the population change on th e pension contribution rate in the 2008 
pension assessment is negligible. A contri bution rate of 10.9% is  obtained if the 
former population at 31 December 2006 were used in the calculation. 
 
EN 9   EN 4. C OMPUTATION SYSTEM  
4.1. 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 the application of the Staff 
Regulations. These values change accordi ng to certain conditions 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 invali dity table, the I SP (Individual Salary 
Progression) table, the probability of bei ng married at the retirement date, the 
coefficients for orphans and divorced spouses. The values of these actuarial assumptions were estimated in accordance  with general actuarial practices and 
discussed with national experts from the re levant departments of the Member States 
at the annual meetings of the Article 83 Working Group. 
A summary of the main variables used (p arameters and actuari al assumptions) is 
given in Annex I, Tables III and IV. 
4.2. Demographic parameters 
4.2.1. The reference population 
The observed population is made up of cont ributing members of the PSEO including: 
– active officials,  
– members whose pension contribution is optional (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. 
47 596  contributing members were recorded at 31.12.2007, which represents a net 
increase of 2 643  participants compared to th e previous year (47 596 at 31.12.2006 
were used in the 2007 actuarial assessment). 
This significant incr ease in the population is mainly explained by the recruitment of 
“contract agents” (a new cat egory of population defined in  the Staff Regulations) and 
officials and temporary agents from the new Member States. 
There are 7 037 “contract agents” among the contributing members at 31.12.2007, as 
against 6 404 at 31.12.2006, which represents an increase of 9.88%. Most of these 
new contributing members are replacing “auxi liary staff” (a former non-contributing
 
staff category). 
A breakdown of the reference population by type of contributing member and by 
Institution or Agency is included in Annex I, Tables VI to VIII. 
4.3. Economic parameters 
In accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of Annex XII to the Staff Regulations, the 
Real Discount Rate (RDR) a nd the General Salary Growth  (GSG) are calculated (in 
 
EN 10   EN the 2007 update) as the average of the co rresponding rates for the 12 preceding years 
(see Annex I, points 5.4.1 and 5.4.2 and Tables  XIV and XV for more information). 
The value of the Real Discount Rate is 3.1%  compared to 3.4% used in the 2007 
actuarial assessment. The GSG is equal to 0.4%  instead of 0.5% used in 2007. 
Finally, an updated ISP table ha s been used, which globally represents a decrease in 
rates ( 1.5% instead of 1.6%) (See Annex I, point 5.4.3).  
4.4. 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 experts from the relevant departments of the 
Member States participating in the Working Group on Article 83 of the Staff 
Regulations. The minutes of the meeting held in Luxembourg on 27 June 2008 (doc. 
20080627_Art83WG _13) are reproduced in Annex III. 
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. 
4.5. Independent examination 
In accordance with Annex XII, Article 13, of the Staff Regulations, Eurostat was 
assisted by a qualified independent expert  (Ernst & Young Actuaires-Conseils, 11, 
allée de l’Arche, 92037 Paris La Défense cedex) with regard to the methodological 
implementation and the definition and cal culation of the corresponding actuarial 
assumptions. 
Ernst & Young Actuaires-Conseils then condu cted an actuarial examination of the 
contribution rate calculated by Eurostat. Th is examination consisted in confirming 
the relevance and reliability of the actua rial processes and assumptions used in 
accordance with the methodology described in  Annex XII to the Staff Regulations. 
For the aspects not described explicitly  in this Annex, Ernst & Young Actuaires-
Conseils checked their compliance with ge nerally accepted actuarial practices. 
Concerning actuarial assumptions, Ernst & Young Actuaires-Conseils carried out 
investigations to ensure that the underl ying data provided by Eu rostat were used 
correctly. 
The executive summary of the assessment by Ernst & Young Actu aires-Conseils is 
included in Annex II. 
 
EN 11   EN Annexes to the report on the 2007 upda te of the 2004 actuarial assessment 
of the Pension Scheme for European Officials (PSEO) 
Annex I Computation 
Annex II Independent examination 
5. A NNEX I — COMPUTATION  
5.1. Relevant figures for calcul ating 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 29.6% 9.9%
Service cost for invalidity 2.2% 0.7%
Service cost for death 1.0% 0.3%
Total service cost 32.8% 10.9%
 
Table II. Service cost and total amount of annual basic salaries 
Service cost Total (EUR million) %
- Service cost for retirement  905 90.3%
- Service cost for invalidity  65 6.5%
- Service cost for death  32 3.2%
Total service cost 1 002 100.0%
Total annual basic salaries and 
invalidity and termination 
allowances3 056 100.0%
 
 
EN 12   EN 5.2. Summary of main variables 
The following tables show the values of the 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 not exhaustive. Please refer to the Staff Regulations and the annexes thereto fo r 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) 31.12.2007
Maximum official retirement age (Staff Regulations 
Article 52)65
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 13   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) 3.1% (See point 2)
General salary growth (GSG) 0.4% (See point 3)
General pension revaluation (GPR) 0.4% (equal to the GSG)Individual salary progression (ISP) 2008 ISP table
Mortality table (healthy people) 2008 ICSLT
Mortality table (Invalids)
Mortality rate corresponding to a person 3 
years older than healthy person
Invalidity table 2008 EU Invalidity table
 
Many of these actuarial assumptions are expl ained in the following points. Some of 
them have changed compared to the 2007 act uarial assessment. The following table 
summarises these changes: 
Table V. Changes in actuarial assumptions 
Variables 2007 assessment 2008 assessment
Remarks Figures (1) Remarks Figures (1)
Real Discount Rate (RDR)1995 - 2006 average3.4%1996 - 2007 average3.1%
General Salary Growth (GSG)1995 - 2006 average0.5%1996 - 2007 average0.4%
Individual Salary Progr. (ISP)2007 ISP table1.6%2008 ISP table1.5%
Invalidity 2007 EU Inval. 2008 EU Inval.
Mortality of healthy persons 2004 Life table 2008 ICSLT
Mortality of invalids 2004 Life table 2008 ICSLT + 3 yearsMarriage probability by sex 2004 Probability90% M, 
60% F2008 Probability84% M, 
38% F
(1) A weighted average of rates has been included in some cases in this column when several rates 
from a table are used in computation
 
 
EN 14   EN 5.3. Demographic parameters 
5.3.1. 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). On the other hand, Article 9 
of this Annex provides that the population of  participants 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 2007 of the 37 institutions and ag encies (30 were recorded at 31 
December 2006) whose official s are members of the PSEO. 
Table VI. Institutions and Agencies in the PSEO  
Abbr. Name
Institutions or assimilated organisms
CDCE COURT OF AUDITORS
CEC EUROPEAN COMMISSION
COJED COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
CONSIL COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
COR COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
CSC ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
EDPS EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR
EO EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN
EUROPARL EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Agencies
CDTTRANSLATION CENTRE FOR BODIES OF THE EUROPEAN 
UNION
CEDEFOPEUROPEAN CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
CEPOL EUROPEAN POLICE COLLEGE
CFCA COMMUNITY FISHERIES CONTROL AGENC Y
CPVO COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETIES OFFICE
EAA EXECUTIVE AGENCY FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMME
EACEAEDUCATION, AUDIOVISUAL AND CULTURE EXECUTIVE 
AGENCY
EACIEXECUTIVE AGENCY FOR COMPETITIVENESS AND 
INNOVATION
EAR EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION
EASA EUROPEAN AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY
ECDCEUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND 
CONTROL
ECHA EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY
EEA EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
EFRAEUROPEAN MONITORING CENTRE FOR RACISM AND 
XENOPHOBIA
EFSA EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY
EMCDDAEUROPEAN MONITORING CENTRE FOR DRUGS AND DRUG-
ADDICTION
EMEAEUROPEAN AGENCY FOR THE EVALUATION OF MEDICAL 
PRODUCTS
EMSA EUROPEAN MARITIME SAFETY AGENCY
ENISAEUROPEAN NETWORK AND INFORMATION SECURITY 
AGENCY
ERA EUROPEAN RAILWAYS AGENCY
ETF EUROPEAN TRAINING FOUNDATION
EUROFOUNDEUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING 
AND WORKING CONDITIONS
EUROJUST JUDICIAL COOPERATION
FRONTEXAGENCY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OPERATIONAL CO-
OPERATION AT EXTERNAL BORDERS OF MEMBER STATES
ITEREUROPEAN JOINT UNDERTAKING FOR ITER AND THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF FUSION ENERGY
OHIM OFFICE FOR HARMONISATION IN THE INTERNAL MARKET
OSHA EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK
TNT-TTRANS-EUROPEAN TRANSPORT NETWORK EXECUTIVE 
AGENCY  
 
EN 15   EN As approved by the Article 83 Working Gr oup at its meeting of 7 June 2004, the 
term “active members of the PSEO” is co nsidered in the wide sense to be 
synonymous with “contributing members of the PSEO”. Consequently, the reference 
population includes not only officials in “act ive employment” but also officials in 
one of the other administrative statuses se t out in Article 35 of the Staff Regulations, 
plus invalids who receive an invalidity a llowance and beneficiar ies of an allowance 
for termination of service. 
Personnel data were collected from the NAP5 (New Application for Pay), PMO6 and 
directly from institutions and agencies, and imported into the Eurostat database. The data were checked to guarantee a high leve l of quality. The actuarial assessment is 
based on the best output from the Eurost at database at the calculation date. 
Table VII. Reference population by administrative status 
Population as at 31.12.2007
Contributing members Total %
Active
- Officials 33 370 70.1%
- Temporary staff 6 362 13.4%- Contract staff 7 037 14.8%
Non-active staff  (1)  827 1.7%
Total population 47 596 100.0%
(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.
 
                                                 
5 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 da tabase contains a large part of the personnel data, 
particularly amounts paid and pension contributions. 
6 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 16   EN Table VIII. Reference population by institution or agency 
Population as at 31.12.2007
Institution or Agency Total %
European Commission 30 213  63.48%
European Parliament 6 130  12.88%Council of the European Union 3 300  6.93%Court of Justice of the European Communities 1 941  4.08%Court of Auditors  866  1.82%Economic and Social Committee  742  1.56%Committee of the Regions  493  1.04%
Other sma ll institutions an d decen tralised Commun ity 
agencies3 911  8.22%
Total 47 596  100.00%
 
Figure I. Reference population by age 
5,000
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000500 0500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,00020 - 2425 - 2930 - 3435 - 3940 - 4445 - 4950 - 5455 - 5960 - 64>64Ages
Number of personsMen:      21878
Women: 25718
 
 
EN 17   EN Table IX. Change in the population of  contributing members as at 31.12.2006  
compared to the population as at 31.12.2005 
Changes Total
Reference population used in the 2007 assessment (contribuiting 
members as at 31.12.2006)44 953  
Contributing members who left the pension scheme or became 
pensioners -2 019  
New contributing members as at 31.12.2007 4 662  
Reference population used in the 2008 assessment (contribuiting 
members as at 31.12.2007)47 596  
Net change 2 643  
 
This increase in the population is mainly explained by the recruitment of “contract 
agents” (a new category of population define d in the Staff Regula tions) and officials 
and temporary agents from the new Member States. 
 
EN 18   EN 5.3.2. Assumed retirement age 
As stipulated in Article 4 of Annex XII to the Staff Regulations, it is assumed that all 
retirements will occur at a fixed average age ( r). The average retirement age may be 
different by group of staff. 
Table X. 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 deducted 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 19   EN 5.3.3. Invalidity table  
A first invalidity table ( 2004-EU Invalidity table) wa s 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 Assump tions EN, available on CIRCA) and 
it was decided to update the table each year  using as input a moving average of 5 
years of invalidity observation. 
The following table shows the number of invalids from 2004 to 2007. 
Table XI. Invalids by year 
Year Invalids
2004 103
2005 1222006 108
2007 88
Total 421
 
The following graph shows the distribut ion of the invalids above by age. A 
considerable increase in i nvalidity occurs between ages 44 and 60. Invalidity is 
practically nil befo re the age of 35.  
Figure II. New invalids by age — 2004 to 2007 total  
New invalids by age
(2004 to 2007 total)
051015202530
20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66
Invalid's age sNumber of invalids
 
These invalidity observations have been us ed to update the inva lidity table by sex 
(2008-EU Invalidity table). Th e following table is an extr act from the unisex version 
 
EN 20   EN of the table. The unisex version is only used for presentation, while the complete 
table by sex is used in computation. 
Table XII. 2008-EU Invalidity table — Unisex version 
AgeInvalidity (probability of 
becoming an invalid)
x q'x
20 0.000059
25 0.00007530 0.00025635 0.00075240 0.00148645 0.00288550 0.00434555 0.00601560 0.006520
65 0.003737
 
5.3.4. Life table of healthy persons 
The EU-2004 Life table was built by Eurostat in 2003 to take into account the 
population of members of the PSEO and wa s presented to the Article 83 working 
group at the April 2003 meeting. As indicated in document Art83 20030411_057, this 
table was based on an average of some nati onal life tables from Member States and 
adjusted to take account of the population of EU civil servants. 
This table was used in the annual assessments of the PSEO from 2004 to 2007. The real mortality rate in the period 2004-2007 was analysed and compared to the 
expected mortality according to the EU-2004 Life  table. The result of this analysis is 
that mortality in ages 30 to 69 is lowe r and mortality for ages above 70 is higher 
compared to the EU-2004 Life table. 
In addition, Eurostat (European Commission)  and the Joint Pension Administrative 
Section (the JPAS is a section working for the six Coordinate d Organisations and 
attached to the OECD) have launched a jo int project aimed at drawing up a common 
life table based on a large population of ci vil servants posted in Europe: the 2008 
ICSLT (International Civil Servants Life Table). This life table should be used in actuarial calculations related to the pensi on schemes of these civil servants. Both 
institutions started the project in 2005. Th e methodology used to set up this life table 
was presented to the Ar ticle 83 Working Group at the 27 August 2008 meeting 
(document 20080627 Art83_05, available from Eurostat). 
The analysis of mortality mentioned a bove and the result of the Eurostat-JPAS 
project lead to the following conclusions:  
– The 2004 EU Life table should not be used in future owing to the gap between 
expected deaths according to the life tabl e and observed deaths in the period 2004 
to 2007, which is large, particularly for men. 
– The 2008 ICSLT is the result of  an in-depth statistical analysis and mathematical 
modelling process, whereas the former 2004 EU Life table was based on national 
life tables from Member States. The proba bility of dying according to this new 
                                                
 
7 Documents Art83 20030411_05 (concerning actuarial assumptions) and Art83 20030411_07 (minutes 
of the 14.04.2003 Art83 WG meeti ng) are available from Eurostat. 
 
EN 21   EN life table seems to be more realistic th an the former 2004 EU Life table. In 
addition, it represents a qua litative improvement in th e field of harmonisation at 
international and EU levels. 
Consequently, the 2008 ICSLT has been used in the 2008 pension assessment. 
The following table is an extract from this table: 
Table XIII. 2008 ICSLT 
Men Women
Age Dying probability Dying probability
x, y qx q y
40 0.00063370 0.00054775
45 0.00106107 0.0009208650 0.00176523 0.0015234455 0.00282667 0.0024220360 0.00481751 0.0037232165 0.00838934 0.00605132
70 0.01458993 0.01074871
75 0.02531453 0.0186384380 0.04374552 0.0330772885 0.07506895 0.0583640690 0.12727809 0.10193574
 
5.3.5. Life table of invalids 
It is normal actuarial practice to consider life expectancy of invalids as slightly 
shorter than that of hea lthy persons (e.g. Eurocontrol applies the mortality rate 
corresponding to a healthy person 3 years olde r than an invalid’s age). This approach 
cannot be confirmed in the case of European  civil servants as the number of invalids 
is too small. Eurostat cons iders this approach very logical and suggests applying the 
same actuarial practice in its  own actuarial calculations. 
The use of this approach makes hardly any 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 assessmen t had a negligible 
impact, close to 0 percenta ge points, on the pension co ntribution rate (10.9% is 
obtained whether this assu mption is used or not). 
5.3.6. Average age difference between men and women  
The average age difference between men and women (3 years) that has been applied 
from 2004 in actuarial calculations should be used in future assessments. The result of a test based on population from 2004 to 2007 confirms that this actuarial 
assumption corresponds to reality. The test showed that on average married men are 
3.01 years older than their partners and ma rried women 3.18 year s younger than their 
partners. 
5.3.7. Probability of being married for men and women 
The probabilities for each sex of being married at retirement age used in the actuarial 
calculations up to the 2007 assessment were  calculated in 2004 on the basis of the 
information then available. The probabilities were:  
0.90 for men 
 
EN 22   EN 0.60 for women 
Eurostat analysed the recent (2004 to 2007)  population of 46 418 officials and ex-
officials older than 59 years and calculated  the probability of them 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 this 2008 pension assessment. 
5.4. Economic parameters 
5.4.1. Real Discount Rate (RDR) 
Annex XII, Article 10 of the St aff Regulations provides that:  
1. The interest rates to be taken into consideration for the actuarial calculations 
shall be based on the obser ved average annual interest ra tes on the long-term public 
debt of Member States as published by  the Commission. An appropriate consumer 
price index shall be used to calculate th e corresponding interest rate net of inflation 
as needed for the actuarial calculations.  
2. The effective annual rate to be taken into consid eration for the actuarial 
calculations shall be the a verage of the real average in terest rates for the 12 years 
preceding the current year.  
Consequently, Real Discount Rates (RDRs) from 1996 until 2007 have  to be used in 
the 2008 assessment of the PSEO.  
Nominal discount rate  (average of 1996 to 2007 nominal  yields of Euro area zero-
coupon government bonds with a maturity of 21 years, 21 years being the duration of 
the scheme, the rate in 2007 as produced by the ECB being 4.5%): 5.3%   
Inflation rate  (average of 1996 to 2007 appropriate consumer price indices, the HICP 
of the EU area in 2007 being 2.3%): 2.1%  
Real Discount Rate  (average of 1996 to 2007 Real Di scount Rates, the last being 
calculated as 100*(100+NDR)/(100+IR)-100)): 3.1%  (it was 3.4% in the assessment 
at 31.12.2006). 
The 12-year moving average of Real Discount  Rates (RDRs) that has been calculated 
this time (3.1%) has been used in the present assessment of the PSEO. 
Table XIV. Real Disc ount Rate (RDR)  
 
EN 23   EN Year Nominal rate Deflator index Real discount rate 
(1) (2) (3)
1995 8.3 3.0 5.1
1996 7.2 2.6 4.5
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 (04) 4.0 2.2 1.8
2006 (04) 4.2 2.2 2.0
2007 4.5 2.3 2.2
Aver. 1995 - 2006 5.6 2.2 3.4
Aver. 1996 - 2007 5.3 2.1 3.1
(1) 
(2) (3) (4) 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 consumption deflator. Since 1999: Harmonised 
Index of Consumer Prices (HICP).
The values in column 3 are obtained using the common formula for deflation i.e.: 
col.3 = 100 * (100 + col.1) / (100 + col.2) - 100
Nominal rate estimated by Eurostat (data not available at ECB)
 
 
EN 24   EN  
5.4.2. 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 annual change in salary 
scales to be used for the actuarial calculati ons must be based on the specific indicator 
(SI) and, on the other hand, that the effective annual rate is to be the average of the net SIs for the 12 years preceding the current year.  
As the net specific indicator obtained in  2007 is -0.4%, the 12-year moving average 
from 1996 to 2007 is 0.4% (see Table IV). The estimate of the GSG consequently 
decreases between 2006 and 2007 from 0.5% to 0.4%. 
Table XV. General Salary Growth  
Year Specific Indicator
1995 0.2
1996 -0.11997 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 -0.4
Aver. 1995 - 2006
0.5
Aver. 1996 - 2007 0.4 
5.4.3. Individual Salary Progression (ISP) 
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 c ontribution rate, but not  as much as the 
RDR and GSG.  
Furthermore, with the introduction of the new Staff Regulations on 1.5.2004, the 
career progression of EU officials has b een completely reviewed. Annex XIII to 
these Staff Regulations includes transitional measures which made the determination of this assumption quite complicated.  
2007 ISP rates to be applied to officials and temporary staff from agencies (ISP 
groups 1 and 2) have been updated to take  account of the observed promotion rates 
from 2005 to 2007 (methodology agreed at  the June 2006 Art83WG meeting). 
The 2007 fixed ISP rate of 0.4% to be app lied to temporary staff from institutions 
(ISP groups 3 and 5) remains unchanged. 
The ISP for group 5 was first estimated in  May 2004 for the then new category of 
contract agent. No actual information on salary progressions was available at the 
time.  
Contract agents working in institutions ar e limited to contracts of 3 years, while 
those working in agencies may have cont racts of longer duration. The proportion of 
 
EN 25   EN contract agents working in institutions , and therefore being limited to 3-year 
contracts, on 31.12.2007 was 89.4%. The possibilities for promotion to a higher 
function group during an average contract pe riod are therefore rather limited. Within 
a function group, the average salary increase for advancement between steps is 2.08%. 
These factors together suggest that the va lue of 1% for the ISP for group 5 was too 
high. A new estimation was carried out base d on observation of the real population 
of contract agents on 31.12.2007. 
7 037 contract agents were recorded at 31.12.2007, which represent 14.8% of active 
population. 
The 2007 ISP table (rates by grade and step a nd number of years to retirement) has 
been updated and used in the 2008 assessmen t of the PSEO. This update concerns 
exclusively ISP groups 1, 2 and 5. The fi xed ISP concerning groups 3 and 4 (0.4%) 
that was decided at the June 2006 meeti ng of the Article 83 Working Group remains 
unchanged. The following table shows weight ed ISP rates for publication purposes. 
Table XVI. Weighted ISP rates by gr oup of active population and grade 
Grades Population groups for ISP calculation (1)Average
12345
18 xxxx 0 . 2 % 1.0%
17 xxxx 0 . 2 % 1.0%
16 0.1% x 0.4% x 0.2% 0.7%
15 0.8% 0.9% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 0.8%
14 1.0% 1.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 0.9%
13 0.9% 0.7% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 0.9%
12 1.1% 1.2% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.0%
11 1.3% 1.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.2%
10 1.7% 1.8% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.4%
9 1.8% 1.9% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.6%
8 1.9% 2.1% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.4%
7 2.2% 2.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.8%
6 2.1% 2.1% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.9%
5 1.7% 2.0% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.4%
4 2.2% 1.9% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.7%
3 2.3% 2.0% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.8%
2 2.4% 2.2% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.5%
1 2.1% 2.1% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.4%
Average 1.7% 2.0% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 1.5%
(x)  No weighted average for ISP is calculated (grey cells in the table) where
   nobody is present in the reference population for the corresponding grade and ISP   group. In particular, grades 17 and 18 concern only contract staff.
 
(1)  Population groups for ISP calculation:
  1. Officials, together with temporary staff of agencies, recruited before 01.05.2004
  2. Officials, together with temporary staff of agencies, recruited from 01.05.2004 onwards  3. Temporary staff of institutions recruited before 01.05.2004  4. Temporary staff of institutions recruited from 01.05.2004 onwards  5. Contract staff recruited from 01.05.2004 onwards
 
ISP rates in the table above  are the average of ISP ra tes weighted by the population 
in each grade. These aver age rates are calcula ted for publication purposes only, the 
detailed rates by grade and years to retire being used in computation. 
5.4.4. 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 after the death of the surviving spouse (or of the 
official if there is no surviving spouse) a nd any pension payable to divorced spouses. 
 
EN 26   EN Eurostat estimates that the impact of this factor on the contributi on rate is minor and 
the same assumption has been used in the 2008 actuarial assessment.  
5.5. Annuities  
Articles 6 to 8 of Annex XII to  the Staff Regulations 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 po licy on equal opportunities, values are not 
presented by sex. However, Eurostat conduct ed its analyses taking into account all 
relevant features of the population, incl uding 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 XIV, 
– the General Salary Growth (GSG) from Table XV, 
– an assumed retirement age ( r) equal to 64 years of age for officials younger than 
35 on the reference date (31.12.2003) and equa l 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 offici al’s age and the assumed retirement 
age), 
y = x ± 3 according to the sex of the official. 
 
EN 27   EN  
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 4.077145 0.939091 25.371470 0.198593 21 30.212143
25 4.667679 0.938329 24.026901 0.195879 25 29.48090930 5.420817 1.139633 22.118410 0.205743 30 28.32725835 6.698698 1.451006 19.497368 0.252718 35 26.988274
40 7.797944 1.729317 16.959862 0.247324 40 25.507685
45 9.101766 2.028546 14.080749 0.223312 45 23.86060550 10.613837 2.440535 10.814064 0.175803 50 21.99326355 12.487924 2.772258 7.102896 0.102601 55 19.99607360 14.710368 3.241113 2.856729 0.026595 60 17.744328
63 16.291496 3.541697 0.000000 0.000000 63 16.291496
  m|ax is described in Annex XII of the Staff Regulations, Article 6 § 3a
  m|axy is described in Annex XII of the Staff Regulations, Article 6 § 3b
      a x is described in Annex XII of the Staff Regulations, Article 7 § 2a
      a xy is described in Annex XII of the Staff Regulations, Article 7 § 2b
      a y is described in Annex XII of the Staff Regulations, Article 8 § 2Immediate deferred Immediate temporary 
 
6. A NNEX II — INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION  
Ernst & Young Actuaires-Conseils conducted an actuarial examination of the 
contribution rate calculated by Eurostat. Th is examination consisted in confirming 
the relevance and reliability of the actua rial 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, Ernst & Young Actuaires-
Conseils checked their compliance with generally accepted actuarial practices. 
Regarding the actuarial assumptions, Erns t & Young Actuaires-C onseils carried out 
investigations to ensure that the underl ying data provided by Eurostat were used 
correctly. 
The executive summary from the Ernst & Young report on the actuarial examination 
is reproduced below: 
In accordance with its assignment entrusted by Eurostat, Ernst & Young Actuaires-
Conseils, as an independent expert, has conducted an actuarial examination of the 
2008 update of the 2004 actuarial assessment of  the pension scheme referred to in 
Article 83a (3) of the new Staff Regulat ions for which Eurostat endorsed the 
technical responsibility towards the Commi ssion according to the Annex XII “Rules 
for implementing Article  83a of the Staff Regulations”. This examination consisted in 
confirming the relevance and the reliabil ity of the actuarial processes and 
assumptions used in accordance with th e methodology described in Annex XII to 
evaluate the contributio n rate of officials . 
For the aspects explicitly mentioned in Annex XII,  we did not detect any elements likely to 
cast doubt that the calculations 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 practices and we did not detect any significant difference 
with the methodology and the assumptions we  would have chosen ourselves to perform the 
calculations. 
 
EN 28   EN Ernst & Young Actuaires-Conseils has no re asons to doubt that the official’s 
contribution rate (10.9%) calculated by Eurostat and presented at the 27th June 2008 
meeting of the Article 83 Working Group is a sufficiently accurate  estimate of the 
reality. However, we note that a progressive table could be used in the future to 
better reflect the lif e improvement (See 6.2.2) . 
The complete Ernst & Young report on the act uarial examination of the contribution 
rate is available from Eurostat.