COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the request to submit a proposal regarding the early retirement scheme for EU civil servants
Date: 2011-04-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European official, early retirement, recruitment, regulations for civil servants

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 7.4.2011 
COM(2011) 181 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the request to submit a proposal regarding the early retirement scheme for EU civil 
servants 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on the request to submit a proposal regarding the early retirement scheme for EU civil 
servants 

On  25  October  2010  the  Council  adopted  conclusions  calling  on  the  Commission  to  put 
forward,  by  the  middle  of  2011,  a  legislative  proposal  for  amending  the  Staff  Regulations. 
That proposal should be either to repeal Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations or 
to review it substantially in order to take into account the concerns expressed in the Council 
conclusions. Under Article 241 TFEU, if the Commission decides not to submit a proposal it 
has to inform the Council of the reasons. 

The Commission wishes to remind the Council that in 2004 it adopted Article 9(2) of Annex 
VIII to the Staff Regulations as a human resources management tool. This tool has enabled 
the  EU 
termination-of-service  system 
(‘dégagement’)  and  has  made  it  easier  to  recruit  staff  from  the  new  Member  States  (EU  10 
and EU 2). It was part of an overall package negotiated between the Council, the Commission 
and trade unions.  

to  dispense  with 

the  previous 

institutions 

The Commission wishes to stress that the report presented to the Council gives figures for a 
short-term  perspective,  as  required  by  the  Staff  Regulations.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Commission  does  not  see  grounds  on  which  the  Council  might  presume  that  the  scheme 
would  not  be  budgetary  neutral  on  the  long  term.  Since  2004,  all  institutions,  as  defined  in 
Articles  1a  (2)  and  1b  of  the  Staff  Regulations,  have  jointly  applied  the  early  retirement 
scheme. They have done so only in the interest of the service and only to a restricted number 
of cases. The scheme has (with one regrettable, but very limited exception) complied with the 
limits laid down in Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations. 

The  Commission  would  also  like  to  remind  the  Council  that,  due  to  the  specific  post-
enlargement circumstances, a 10 % annual rate has been applied in recent years. There are no 
reasons to expect this maximum rate to be reached every year. 

Article  9(2)  is  addressed  to  all  institutions,  and  all  institutions  must  manage  the  scheme 
jointly. The Commission cannot unilaterally restrict the way other institutions exercise their 
Appointing  Authority  powers  with  regard  to  early  retirement.  However,  following  a 
Commission  proposal,  the  institutions  have  accepted  to  use  their  margin  of  discretion  as 
appointing authorities and to apply for 2010-2011 a rate of around 8 %. This takes account of 
the  end  of  the  transition  period  for  the  recruitment  of  EU-10  nationals,  as  well  as  the 
persisting need to recruit staff from EU-2 Member States. 

For  the  reasons  given  above,  the  Commission  does  not  consider  that  there  are  at  this  stage 
grounds  for  revising  Article  9(2)  of  Annex  VIII  to  the  Staff  Regulations.  It  will,  however, 
give due consideration to the Council’s concerns when making a proposal for amending the 
Staff Regulations. 

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