Article 1 Dissolution of the Europol pension fund and transfer of activity
The independent pension fund established by the Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting rules on the Europol pension fund, pursuant to Article 37 of Appendix 6 to the Europol Staff Regulations, is hereby dissolved. The residual activity of the fund shall be automatically transferred to Europol on 1 January 2016.
Article 2 Legal succession
Europol shall be considered the legal successor of the fund in respect of all contracts concluded by, liabilities incumbent on and property acquired by the fund, and of claims of the fund towards third parties. This Decision shall not affect the legal force of agreements concluded by the fund.
Article 3 Preparation actions for the transfer
Prior to the date of application of this Decision, assets that are invested by the fund shall be liquidated and deposited in a bank account in the name of the fund. After consulting an independent qualified actuary, the management board of the fund shall prepare a report showing the fund's closing asset and liability situation (the ‘closing report’). The closing report shall include a detailed actuarial assessment of the pension liabilities transferred to Europol on the basis of the parameters resulting from the provisions of the Europol Staff Regulations, of the nature of the remaining pension liabilities, as well as of the actuarial assumptions listed in the Annex to this Decision. The closing report shall set out the amount of financial provisions needed to meet those liabilities, due account being taken of the margin of error resulting from the size of the population concerned. The closing report shall be forwarded to the Management Board of Europol and audited by the European Court of Auditors, in accordance with Articles 43 and 58(2)(a) of the Europol Decision.
Article 4 Allocation of the assets of the fund
1. A portion of the fund's assets corresponding to the amount necessary to cover the pension liabilities transferred to Europol, as approved by the Management Board of Europol on the basis of the closing report, shall be transferred to Europol. Those assets shall be earmarked for the specific purpose of paying out pension benefits pursuant to Article 5. 2. After all pension liabilities have been met, the remainder of the portion of the assets defined in paragraph 1 shall become other revenue for the Europol budget. 3. The difference between the total of the fund's assets and the amount referred to in paragraph 1 shall be allocated in the following way: (a) two thirds of the difference shall be repaid to Europol. Europol shall determine which part of that amount must be regarded as: (i) a remainder of the surpluses of the budgets, approved on the basis of Article 35(5) of the Europol Convention, to be paid back to Member States pursuant to the principles on which Article 58(5) of the Europol Decision was based, (ii) a remainder of the subsidies paid to Europol from the general budget of the European Union, pursuant to Article 42 of the Europol Decision. (b) one third of the difference shall be transferred to Europol and earmarked for the specific purpose of being distributed to the former active participants of the fund or, where the participants are deceased, their lawful heir, in proportion to the total amount of the contributions they respectively paid to the fund during the period they were employed under the Europol Staff Regulations. Where not in employment with Europol, potential beneficiaries of a payment under this point shall communicate to Europol their contact details, a proof of identity and a proof of their quality of heir if applicable, within a period of two years following the date of publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of the European Union . Europol shall have no obligation to actively research former active participants of the fund whose contact details communicated to Europol have ceased to be valid, nor any obligation to actively research the heirs of deceased former active participants. The costs incurred by Europol for the purpose of the distribution shall be paid from the amount defined in paragraph 1. The remainder of this portion of the assets after payment has been made to the identified beneficiaries shall become other income for the Europol budget.
Article 5 Payment of pension benefits awarded on the basis of the Europol Staff Regulations
Benefits derived by individuals from the social security scheme referred to in Article 78 of the Europol Staff Regulations shall be charged to the Europol budget and shall be paid out by Europol from the earmarked revenue referred to in Article 4(1). Any ancillary expenditure connected to the payment of the abovementioned benefits shall be borne by Europol and shall be paid from the same earmarked revenue. Except for liabilities covered by Europol's reinsurance schemes, Europol shall cover any shortfall where the earmarked revenue referred to in Article 4(1) is not sufficient to meet the liabilities of the fund.
Article 6 Management board of the Europol pension fund
The members of the management board of the fund shall remain in function until the board has approved the last annual report and the closing report has been audited by the European Court of Auditors. After the functions of the members of the management board of the fund have terminated, their liability shall remain limited to cases of gross negligence and serious wrongdoing in the fulfilment of their tasks while they were in function.
Article 7 Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its adoption. It shall apply from 1 January 2016. However, Article 3 shall apply from the date of entry into force of this Decision.