1.

This case concerns the interpretation of the term “basic salary” appearing in Article 3 (3) of the General Provisions for giving effect to Article 11 (2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations of Officials. The problem relates to the calculation, for the purposes of the Community retirement pension, of the years of pensionable service to be credited to an official in respect of his previous employment. In essence it is a matter of determining whether, in ascertaining the basic salary, account must be taken of the weighting applicable to the amounts set out in the table contained in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations. It is appropriate to begin by setting out the provisions of Article 11 (2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations. It states as follows: “An official who enters the service of the Communities ( 2 ) after leaving the service of a government administration or of a national or international organization or of an undertaking shall have the right, on becoming established with that Community ( 2 ) to pay to it ( 2 ) either: — The actuarial equivalent of retirement pension rights acquired by him in the government administration, national or international organization or undertaking; or — the sums repaid to him from the pension fund of the government administration, organization or undertaking at the date of his leaving its service.” The same article provides that, where an official makes use of that right, “the institution in which the official serves shall, taking into account his grade on establishment, determine the number of years of pensionable service with which he shall be credited under its own pension scheme in respect of the former period of service, on the basis of the amount of the actuarial equivalent or sums repaid as aforesaid”. That article does not, however, lay down any rules for calculating the number of years of pensionable service to be credited to the official. That matter is dealt with by Article 3 (3) of the General Provisions for giving effect to Article 11 (2) (published in Staff Courier No 77 of 29 July 1969), which provides that the amount transferred (the actuarial equivalent or sums repaid) is to be taken as the basis and converted “into a notional pension varying with the actuarial value determined by the budgetary authorities...”. That pension is then converted “into years of pensionable service varying with the basic annual salary attaching to the grade on establishment”. The facts of the case are as follows. On becoming an established official with the Commission as from 1 September 1975, Paolo Benassi exercised the right provided for in Article 11 (2) of Annex VIII, relying on a period of previous service in Italy, and arranged for the payments to the Community of the actuarial equivalent of his accrued pension rights or of the sum which the Italian pension fund owed him when he left his previous employment. The Commission took account of Mr Benassi's grade on establishment and fixed the period of pensionable service to be credited to him at two years, three months and seven days. However, by a letter dated 17 March 1980, Mr Benassi lodged a complaint against that decision objecting to the fact that the administration had applied the weighting to his basic annual salary before performing the calculation. He maintained that no account should have been taken of the adjustment of salaries due to variations in the cost of living and pointed out that if the method which he considers to be correct had been followed he would have been credited with a longer period of pensionable service. The complaint was rejected by the Commission by a letter of 2 September 1980. On 30 September 1980 Mr Benassi brought an action for a declaration that for the purpose of calculating the number of years of pensionable service with which he should be credited under the Community pension scheme the basic salary should be that indicated in the table of basic salaries contained in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations without the application of the weighting. He submitted that the Commission was therefore bound to amend its calculation and credit him with a period of pensionable service of three years, four months and fifteen days.