Proposal for a Council Regulation introducing special measures to terminate the service of officials of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
Date: 2002-03-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, European official, early retirement, institutional reform, pension scheme, recruitment, survivor's benefit, termination of employment

C 181 E/306

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30.7.2002

Proposal for a Council Regulation introducing special measures to terminate the service of officials
of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

(2002/C 181 E/17)

COM(2002) 136 final — 2002/0069(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 20 March 2002)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 283 thereof,

(6) Special measures

should accordingly be adopted with
regard to termination of service together with internal
administrative arrangements for effective monitoring of
the implementation of this Regulation.

Having regard to the proposal made by the Commission after
consulting the Staff Regulations Committee in accordance with
Article 10a of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European
Communities (1),

(7) These measures must be applied as far as possible with due
in compliance with the

regard for geographical balance,
principles governing this Regulation.

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

(8) These measures must be budget-neutral,

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Justice,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors,

Whereas:

(1) The development of the European Union since the Treaty
of Maastricht has extended the scope of
the Council's
activities. These changes have increased and reinforced
the General Secretariat's tasks, which go beyond those of
a Conference Secretariat.

(2) The General Secretariat of the Council intends to meet a
significant part of those needs through internal rational-
isation and redeployments.

(3) The General Secretariat of the Council intends to take steps,
mainly through training, to help redeployed staff to adjust
in the most satisfactory and effective way possible.

Article 1

The General Secretariat of the Council is hereby authorised, in
the interests of the service and in order to take account of the
need to renew skills arising from the refocusing of the use of
its resources on priority activities, to adopt measures up to 31
December 2004 for terminating the service within the meaning
of Article 47 of the Staff Regulations of officials who have
reached the age of 55 and have completed at least 15 years'
service, with the exception of those in Grades A1 and A2,
under the conditions specified below.

Article 2

The total number of officials to be covered by the measures
referred to in Article 1 shall be 94 (12 As, 22 LAs, 8 Bs, 44 Cs,
and 8 Ds).

(4) However,

the skills of some officials, particularly older
members of staff, are deemed not to be in line with the
duties to be performed.

This measure shall be without prejudice to decisions to be
taken under the annual budget procedures.

(5) The General Secretariat of the Council needs new skill
profiles and a rebalancing of its establishment plan, but
the number of officials retiring in the normal way will
to allow the necessary skills to be
not be sufficient
acquired through recruiting new staff within a satisfactory
timescale.

(1) Hereinafter called the ‘Staff Regulations’.

Article 3

Within the ceilings laid down in Article 2, and with due regard
to the interests of the service, the General Secretariat of the
Council, after having consulted its Joint Committee, shall select
from among the officials applying for termination of their
service under Article 1 those to whom it wishes to apply
this measure.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 181 E/307

It shall consider as a priority officials affected by the reorgani-
sation measures and measures for refocusing the use of its
resources on priority activities,
in particular redeployment,
whose skills are deemed not to be in line with the duties to
be performed. It shall take account of the amount of training
necessary for them to undertake new tasks, their age, ability,
performance, conduct in the service, family circumstances and
length of service.

received by the official or member of

4. Where gross income accruing to the former official from
any new employment, when combined with the allowance
provided for in paragraph 1, exceeds the total gross remun-
eration last
the
temporary staff concerned, determined by reference to the
salary scales in force on the first day of
the month for
which the allowance is payable,
the amount of the excess
shall be deducted from that allowance. That remuneration
shall be weighted as provided for in paragraph 3.

Article 4

Former officials whose service is terminated under Article
1.
1 shall be entitled to a monthly allowance set as a percentage
of the last basic salary received according to age and length of
service at the time of departure as shown in the table in the
Annex to this Regulation. The last basic salary shall be that for
the grade and step held by the official concerned at the time of
departure, determined by reference to the table in Article 66 of
the Staff Regulations in force on the first day of the month for
which the allowance is payable.

Such former officials may at any time, at

their own
2.
request,
receive a retirement pension on the terms and
conditions laid down in the Staff Regulations. Entitlement to
the allowance shall then cease. It shall cease in any event not
later than the last day of the month in which the former
official concerned reaches the age of 65 years or as soon as
the maximum
he or she is eligible before that age for
retirement pension of 70 % (Article 77 of
the Staff Regu-
lations).

At that point the former official shall automatically receive a
retirement pension, which shall take effect on the first day of
the calendar month following the month in which the
allowance was paid for the last time.

The allowance provided for in paragraph 1 shall be
3.
adjusted by the weighting fixed for
the country situated
inside the Community in which the recipient proves that he
is resident. Recipients shall provide evidence each year of their
place of residence.

the recipient

resides in a country situated outside the
If
Community, the weighting to be applied to the allowance
shall be 100.

Gross income and total gross remuneration last received, as
referred to above, mean sums paid after deduction of social
security contributions but before deduction of tax.

The former official shall give a formal undertaking to provide
any written proof which may be required, including an annual
statement of income in the form of a salary statement or
audited accounts, as appropriate, and a sworn or authenticated
declaration that he or she is not in receipt of any other income
from any new employment, and shall notify the institution of
any other factor which may affect his or her right to the
allowance, failing which he or she shall be liable to disciplinary
action as provided for in Article 86 of the Staff Regulations.

child

thereto,

allowance

As set out in Article 67 of the Staff Regulations and
5.
the household
Articles 1, 2 and 3 of Annex VII
education
dependent
allowance,
allowance shall be payable either
the
allowance provided for in paragraph 1 or to the person or
persons to whom custody of the child or children has been
entrusted by law or by an order of court or of the competent
the household allowance shall be
administrative authority;
calculated by reference to the allowance provided for
in
paragraph 1.

and
to the recipient of

insurance,

recipients of

in respect of

Provided that they are not receiving income from any
6.
the allowance shall be
gainful employment,
themselves and persons covered by
entitled,
insurance
their
scheme provided for in Article 72 of the Staff Regulations
provided they pay the relevant contribution, calculated on
the basis of the allowance provided for in paragraph 1, and
are not covered by another sickness insurance scheme by virtue
of legal or statutory provisions.

to benefits under

the sickness

The allowance shall be expressed in euro. It shall be paid in the
currency of the country of residence of the recipient. However,
if
is subject to the weighting of 100 under the second
subparagraph, it shall be paid in euro.

it

An allowance paid in a currency other than euro shall be
calculated on the basis of the exchange rates referred to in
the second paragraph of Article 63 of the Staff Regulations.

for not more than 65 months,

7.
During the period for which they are entitled to receive
former
the allowance, but
officials shall continue to acquire further rights to retirement
pension based on the salary carried by their grade and step,
provided that the contribution provided for in the Staff Regu-
lations by reference to that salary is paid during that period
and provided that
the total pension does not exceed the
maximum specified in the second paragraph of Article 77 of
the Staff Regulations. For the purposes of Article 5 of Annex
VIII to the Staff Regulations, such period shall be considered to
be a period of service.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30.7.2002

Subject to Articles 1(1) and 22 of Annex VIII to the Staff
8.
Regulations, the surviving spouse of a former official who dies
while in receipt of the allowance provided for in paragraph 1
shall be entitled, provided that the marriage was contracted at
least one year before the former official left the service of the
Council, to a survivor's pension equal to 60 % of the retirement
pension which, irrespective of length of service or age, would
have been payable to the former official
if he or she had
qualified for it at the time of death.

The survivor's pension referred to in the previous subparagraph
shall not be less than the amounts specified in the second
paragraph of Article 79 of the Staff Regulations. However, in
no case may it exceed the amount of the retirement pension to
which the former official would have been entitled had he or
she survived and been granted a retirement pension when
ceasing to be eligible for the allowance referred to above.

The minimum duration of the marriage as referred to in the
first subparagraph shall not be taken into account if there are
one or more children of a marriage contracted by the official
before he or she left the service provided that the surviving
spouse maintains or has maintained those children.

Nor shall the duration of the marriage be taken into account if
the death of
the
circumstances referred to at the end of the second paragraph
of Article 17 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations.

the former official resulted from one of

in receipt of

On the death of a former official

9.
the
allowance provided for in paragraph 1, dependent children
within the meaning of Article 2 of Annex VII to the Staff
Regulations shall be entitled to an orphan's pension on the
conditions set out in the first, second and third paragraphs
of Article 80 of the Staff Regulations and in Article 21 of
Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations.

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX

ALLOWANCE PERCENTAGE

The allowance percentage referred to in Article 4(1) of this Regulation will be determined on the basis of the age and
length of service of officials at the time of departure as shown in the table below:

Level of allowance depending on age and length of service

Age

From 55 to
56 years

From 57 to
58 years

From 59 to
60 years

From 61 to
62 years Over 63 years

60,0 %

60,0 %

62,0 %

64,0 %

60,0 %

60,0 %

64,0 %

66,0 %

60,0 %

62,0 %

66,0 %

68,0 %

62,0 %

64,0 %

68,0 %

70,0 %

64,0 %

66,0 %

70,0 %

70,0 %

Length of service

From 15 to 19 years

From 20 to 24 years

From 25 to 29 years

30 years and over

Age and length of service will be considered in relation to the actual date of termination of service of the official
concerned.

Applying these conditions to the target group of officials on a weighted basis gives a maximum average allowance of
62,5 %.