WRITTEN QUESTION E-1847/02

by Guido Bodrato (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 June 2002)

Subject: Lack of coordination between the Community pension scheme and the Member States' pension schemes

By means of Council Regulation (EC) No 1606/98(1) of 29 June 1998, application of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71(2) on social security has been extended to schemes covering public employees.

Will the Commission say whether or not the employees of Community institutions can take advantage of Regulation (EC) No 1606/98 in order to secure, by means of the scheme for aggregating periods of pension contributions, entitlement to a pension based on the periods of pension contribution completed under the scheme of one of the Member States before taking up employment with a Community institution?

Is it not paradoxical that the Community lawmakers have not bothered to make specific provision for coordination between the Community pension scheme and the Member States' pension schemes with a view to safeguarding pension rights which have already been (or which are in the process of being) acquired under national law, within the spirit of Regulation (EC) No 1408/71?

Although it is the case that European civil servants can ask for contributions paid under a national pension scheme to be transferred to the Community pension scheme, it is also the case that many of them have not taken (and do not take) advantage of this opportunity, either because they are poorly informed or because they have little interest in an operation which, rightly or wrongly, is not thought to be advantageous.

Does the Commission not consider that the current system has shortcomings and that it should be improved so as to ensure that acquired pension rights are in all cases preserved?

(1) OJ L 209, 25.7.1998, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 149, 5.7.1971, p. 2.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2002)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1606/98 of 29 June 1998 amends Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community, and Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 with a view to extending them to cover special schemes for civil servants(1).

Article 2 of the Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 applies to employed persons and self-employed persons who are or have been subject to the legislation of one or more Member States. Community staff are subject to the schemes of the European Institutions and not to Member States' social security legislation. Therefore, Community staff cannot take advantage of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 as modified by Council Regulation (EC) No 1606/98, for the co-ordination between a national scheme and the scheme applicable to Community staff.

Annex VIII of the Staff Regulations provides that An official who enters the service of the Communities after: leaving the service of a government administration or of a national or international organisation; or pursuing an activity in an employed or self-employed capacity; shall be entitled upon establishment to have paid to the Communities either the actuarial equivalent or the flat-rate redemption value of retirement pension rights acquired by virtue of such service or activities. In such case 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 (Article 11(2)). Through different mechanisms both the Staff Regulations and Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, pursue the same objective of ensuring that workers who exercise their right of free movement are not penalised in terms of social security, irrespective of whether they are moving between European countries or becoming European Community officials. Therefore, the Commission does not share the opinion of the Honourable Member that there is a need for a specific provision to co-ordinate Community and Member States' pension schemes and no staff representations have been made to that effect.

Upon entering the service of the Communities, officials and temporary staff receive a copy of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities which contain the aforementioned Article 11(2) of Annex VIII on the transfer of contributions from a national pension scheme to the Community scheme. In addition, officials and temporary staff receive comprehensive information during their introduction courses and administrative notices informing them of any changes. The Court of Justice confirmed the validity of the information procedure used by the Commission in its judgement in Case T-27-99(2).

Furthermore, the Commission would like to point out that this entitlement under the Staff Regulations is by no means an obligation on the person concerned. Officials of the European Institutions are free to choose whether or not to request the transfer of their pension rights and, after receiving a detailed quantified proposal from their Institution, make a free decision on whether to

transfer their rights or to leave them with the previous scheme where they will be subject to the national rules on this matter and to Council Regulations (EC) No 1606/98 and (EEC) No 1408/71 for the entitlements under the national schemes.

(1) OJ L 209, 25.7.1998.

(2) Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 17 October 2000. Humbert Drabbe v Commission European Court reports staff cases 2000 Page IA-00213; II-00955.