*Update 21.03.2023 take advantage of the PMO events on: end of contract rights: removal, resettlement allowance, travel expenses, TA, CA and APA on the unemployment allowance, pension rights, transfer IN/OUT of pension rights.*
*Update 19.02.2023, there is a PMO helpline available for this.* If you are on a time-limited contract and reaching the end of your time in the institutions or if you decide to leave even if in a permanent type of statutory link, you should spend some time reflecting about your acquired pension rights. In principle, there are three scenarios to consider.
You have worked for (a total of) less than 1 year in the institutions
In this case, you can opt for either a severance grant or the transfer of your acquired pension rights. The severance grant is equal to three times the amount that you have paid as contributions into the pension scheme. If instead you choose to transfer your rights into another pension scheme, the rules are the same as for colleagues who have stayed longer than 1 year (but shorter than 10 years).
You have worked for more than 1 year, but less than 10 years in the institutions
If you have worked less than 10 years in the institutions, you “must” transfer you pension rights to another schemes. However, we put “must” here in parentheses for a reason: while the transfer-out is a formal obligation, the institution does not really have a way to force you to start the procedure. However, the receiving scheme might well have some limitations on the timeframe for such a transfer, so please check this before waiting too long. For this transfer-out, you have two choices:
- If you have a new job in a Member State, you can transfer the money to the national scheme to which you are now contributing. While this sounds easy, it might require a bit of stamina on your side to find a competent contact in the national scheme – quite often, they have not much experience with this kind of transfer.
- You also have the choice to transfer to a private insurance or a pension fund, if they guarantee four conditions:
- They will not repay you the money. This means that you must really receive a pension from them once you reach the pensionable age.
- The pension must start to pay you no earlier than age 60 and no later than age 66.
- Your dependents must receive a (so-called) survivor’s pension if you die and leave them behind.
PMO checks these conditions before they initiate a transfer. A list of schemes that come up more often and that PMO has checked already is available on MyIntraComm. Some of these schemes have a residency restriction: you can only transfer to them if you live in a certain Member States at the time of signature.
You have worked more than 10 years in the institutions
This is the easiest case in the sense that you do not need to do anything: once you reach the pensionable age, the institution will pay you a pension.
In all cases, as long as your money is still in the Pension Scheme of European Officials, it accumulates interest and compound interest. You can find the interest rate in Annex VIII, Article 4 of the staff regulations. For your convenience, please find the current and past interest rates below. These rates are calculated by Eurostat and updated every 5 years (Annex XII, Article 12, Staff Regulations):
- Until end of 2004: 3.5 %, Regulation 31 (EEC)
- 2005–2008: 3.9 %, Council Regulation 23/2005, Article 2
- 2009–2018: 3.1 %, Council Regulation 1324/2008, Article 2,
- As of 2019: 2.9 %, Update of compound interest rate (2019/C 1/08)
As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact us.
