Unemployment fund in top shape: Will non-permanent staff contributions decrease?

Contract Agents, Newsletter - 2024-09-25, Temporary Agents Print This Post

*Update 12.03.2025 refusing a contract renewal is counted as resigning, this is not new, but the information could be made clearer.*

*Update 06.02.2025 It happened! Lower unemployment contribution rate for Contract and Temporary Agents. Thanks to those who brought this to our attention and check your February payslip code CCA. Look what we can achieve together!*

Original article: Did you know that every 2 years the Commission is expected to present a report on the financial situation of the EU unemployment insurance scheme? The last one issued in February 2024 covers the period between 2017 and 2022. You might find it interesting… 

EU unemployment fund: for whom and on what terms? 

The EU unemployment allowance is intended for former temporary agents (TA), Contract Agents (CA), or accredited parliamentary assistants (APAs) following termination of their service with a European Union institution.

These allowances are financed from the unemployment fund which is itself financed by the contributions of staff who are covered by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS) and by their employer’s contributions. The conditions for granting the allowance, the beneficiary categories and the contribution rates were all changed significantly upon revision of staff regulations.  

 * accredited parliamentary assistants since 2009 [Council Regulation 160/2009 of 23 February 2023] 

Is everybody affected equally? 

The requirement to pay unemployment insurance is foreseen by regulatory provisions. Staff concerned have contribution deducted from their salary (code CCA on your payslip). However, not all who pay would have a chance to benefit from a potential unemployment allowance. In our pervious article, we brought up a particular situation of contract agents engaged under article 3a of CEOS (unlike CA3b), whose contracts can become permanent (‘indefinite’) in time. We wonder how many CA3a actually received an EU unemployment allowance in the last 5 years?[+] Generation2004 has recently challenged the DG HR position and requested that unemployment contributions paid by contract agents on indefinite contracts, who run hardly any risk of unemployment, is proportionally reduced, if not eliminated. 

Unemployment allowance in figures (all institutions) 

During the reference period, there was a 37% increase in the number of monthly unemployment allowances paid, namely from 8183 in 2017 to 11230 in 2022. 

Source: Commission report on the 2017-2022 financial situation of the unemployment insurance scheme 

The average monthly payment (including all entitled former staff categories) has kept on decreasing for all staff categories since 2020. In 2022 it accounted for EUR 1.78 k, a decrease by almost 16% compared to 2021 (EUR 2.11 k), to be explained by the higher number of payments for staff categories who on average receive a lower allowance.  

Source: Based on figures in the Commission report on the 2017-2022 financial situation of the unemployment insurance scheme 

Indeed, in 2022 the average monthly allowance was the highest for TAs (EUR 2.14 k), compared to APAs and CAs who received on average EUR 1.59 k and EUR 1.60 k respectively. Please note that these are not the guaranteed, but average amounts. The individual entitlement depends on your basic salary and staff category for which specific limits may apply. 

Source: Based on figures in the Commission report on the 2017-2022 financial situation of the unemployment insurance scheme 

The average duration in months of unemployment allowance has been stable over the past 6 years (between 8 and 10 months). 

Evolution in the EU unemployment fund 

Since 2017, each year the revenue has constantly increased and the annual operating result (total revenue minus– expenditure) remained positive except for 2020, when there was an operating deficit of EUR 0.5 million. The deficit should be attributed to the increased number of unemployment allowances paid due to the end of the European Parliament’s term and the Commission’s mandate. 

The developments in the financial position of the EU unemployment fund are promising. In 2021 and 2022, the fund recorded a surplus of EUR 11.2 million and EUR 19.9 million, respectively. 

Source: Based on figures in the Commission report on the 2017-2022 financial situation of the unemployment insurance scheme 

Main contributors to the EU unemployment fund 

It should be noted that the contribution of the agencies has increased from EUR 13 million in 2017 to EUR 21 million in 2022. Given their high reliance on non-permanent staff, they remain the main contributor to the fund in terms of revenue (EUR 21.23 million). The agencies also generate the highest operating result (EUR 16.89 million) explained by proportionately low expenditure represented essentially by the payment of unemployment allowance (EUR 4.35 million). In terms of revenue, the agencies are followed by the European Commission (EC), the European Parliament (EP), the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Court of Justice (ECJ). Among them, the two latter recorded the highest operating result i.e. EUR 0.87 and 0.95 million respectively.

Source: Based on figures in the Commission report on the 2017-2022 financial situation of the unemployment insurance scheme 

Legitimate expectations 

We are so used to being cited budgetary constraints as reasons for rejecting our proposals, so we are especially pleased to see that the fund has demonstrated such strong operational performance. It reached nearly EUR 20 million in 2022 and accumulated a reserve exceeding EUR 60 million, which according to the report, will continue to grow. As such the Commission will consider lowering the unemployment insurance paid by all staff concerned. This move has been confirmed in the note we received from DG HR.

Check out the sources for yourself: 

As always, we would love to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us or leave a comment below. 

If you appreciate our work, consider becoming a member of Generation 2004. 

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[+] Many Chafea staff (largely contract agents) did not follow their post when the agency was closed and its work moved from Luxembourg to Brussels in 2020. This left them unemployed but it is unclear whether any staff received the EU unemployment allowance since EU case-law considers the refusal of a contract to be equivalent to a resignation.

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