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PENSION SCHEME CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Where the medical examination made before a staff member takes up his duties shows that he is suffering from sickness or invalidity, the Director may, in so far as risks arising from such sickness or invalidity are concerned, decide to admit that staff member to guaranteed benefits in respect of invalidity or death only after a period of five years from the date of his entering the service of the Foundation. CHAPTER II RETIREMENT PENSION AND SEVERANCE GRANT Section 1 Retirement pension A retirement pension shall be payable on the basis of the total number of years of pensionable service acquired by the staff member. Each year of service reckoned as provided for in Article 3 shall entitle him to one year of pensionable service and each complete month to one-twelfth of a year of pensionable service. The maximum number of years of pensionable service which may be taken into account for the calculation of retirement pension rights shall be 35. For the purpose of calculating years of pensionable service within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article 2, the following shall be taken into account:

(a) the length of service as a staff member counted from 9 March 1982 ◄ and time spent on leave for military service after that date, provided that the person concerned has paid his share of the pension contribution in respect of such periods of service;

(b) the period taken into account for retirement, in accordance with Article 10 (2), provided that the actuarial equivalent or the sums repaid have been paid, as stipulated in that Article. A staff member who, having left the service of the Foundation, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Traning or one of the Community institutions, resumes active employment with the Foundation or a Community institution shall acquire further pension rights. He may request that, for the purpose of calculating his pension rights, the whole of the period of service with the Foundation, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training or one of the Community institutions be taken into account, subject to his repaying any sums paid to him as a severance grant or received by him by way of retirement pension, plus compound interest at the rate of 3,5 % per annum.

Where the staff member, being entitled to a retirement pension, does not repay the sums referred to in the preceding paragraph, a capital sum representing the actuarial equivalent of his retirement pension as at the date on which such pension ceased to be paid to him, together with compound interest at the rate of 3·5 % per annum, shall be paid to him in the form of a deferred retirement pension payable at the age when he ceases to perform his duties. The minimum subsistence figure for the purpose of calculating pension benefits shall correspond to the basic salary of a staff member in grade D 4, step one. The actuarial equivalent of the retirement pension shall not be less than the amount which the staff member would have received if Article 11 had been applied to him. Where the actuarial equivalent of the retirement pension payable in accordance with the preceding provisions is less than this amount, the staff member shall receive a retirement pension the actuarial equivalent of which shall be equal to the amount provided for in the first paragraph.

‘Actuarial equivalent of the retirement pension’ means the capital value of the benefits accruing to the staff member, calculated by reference to the latest morality tables compiled by the budgetary authorities of the European Communities as referred to in Article 32, the rate of interest applicable being 3·5 % per annum. A staff member leaving the service before reaching the age of 60 years may request that his retirement pension:

— be deferred until the first day of the calendar month following that in which he reaches the age of 60, or — be paid immediately, provided that he is not less than 50 years of age. In this case, the retirement pension shall be reduced by an amount calculated by reference to the official's age when he starts to draw his pension, as shown in the following table:

— Pension payable on early retirement expressed in terms of the pension payable on retirement at the age of 60 years Early retirement age Coefficient 50 0·50678 51 0·53834 52 0·57266 53 0·61009 54 0·65099 55 0·69582 56 0·74508 57 0·79936 58 0·85937 59 0·92593

1. A staff member who leaves the service of the Foundation to enter the service of a government administration or a national or international organization which has concluded an agreement with the Foundation shall be entitled to have the actuarial equivalent of his retirement pension rights in the Foundation transferred to the pension fund of the administration or organization.

2. A staff member who enters the service of the Foundation after leaving the service of a government administration or of a national or international organization or of an undertaking shall have the right, on completing the probationary period laid down by Article 25 of the Conditions of Employment, to pay to the Foundation either:

— the actuarial equivalent of retirement pension rights acquired by him in the government administration, national or international organization or undertaking, or

— the sums repaid to him from the pension fund of the government administration, organization or undertaking at the date of his leaving its service. In such case the competent authority for the payment of pensions shall, taking into account his grade on establishment, determine the number of years of pensionable service with which he shall be credited under the current pension scheme, on the basis of the amount of the actuarial equivalent or sums repaid as aforesaid. The option referred to in the first subparagraph shall also be open to staff members who entered the service before 9 March 1982 ◄ , with regard to pension rights corresponding to the period of their service with the Foundation before that date. The number of years of pensionable service shall, however, be determined on the basis of the grade and step held by the person concerned on 9 March 1982 ◄ .

3. Paragraph 2 shall also apply to a staff member who is reinstated following expiry of a period of leave on personal grounds under Article 11 or unpaid leave under Article 33 of the Conditions of Employment. Section 2 Severance grant

1. A staff member aged less than 60 years whose service terminates otherwise than by reason of death or invalidity and who is not entitled to a retirement pension and cannot benefit from the provisions of Article 10 (1) shall be entitled on leaving the service to payment of:

(a) the aggregate amount deducted from his basic salary in respect of his pension contributions, plus compound interest at the rate of 3·5 % per annum;

(b) provided that his contract of employment was not terminated pursuant to Article 47 of the Conditions of Employment, a severance grant proportionate to his actual length of service, calculated on the basis of one and a half months for each year of service of the last basic salary before deductions. In cases covered by Article 10 (2), the period of former service shall likewise be deemed to be actual service, to the extent of the number of years of pensionable service credited to him in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 10 (2);

(c) the total sum paid to the Foundation, in accordance with Article 10 (2), where that sum corresponds to periods before 9 March 1982 ◄ , and one-third of that sum for the periods after that date, plus compound interest at the rate of 3·5 % per annum.

2. The amounts paid pursuant to Article 37 below shall be deducted from the grant referred to in paragraph 1 (a), (b) and (c). CHAPTER III INVALIDITY PENSION Subject to the provisions of Article 1, a staff member aged less than 65 years who at any time during the period in which he is acquiring pension rights is recognized by the Invalidity Committee provided for in Annex I to be suffering from total permanent invalidity and who is obliged on these grounds to end his service with the Foundation shall be entitled, for so long as such incapacity persists, to invalidity pension as provided for in Article 41b of the Conditions of Employment. Invalidity pension and retirement pension shall not be paid concurrently.

A staff member to whom the Invalidity Committee finds that the provisions of Article 41b apply shall automatically be retired on the last day of the month in which the director recognizes his permanent incapacity to perform his duties. Entitlement to invalidity pension shall taken effect from the first day of the calendar month following recognition of the permanent incapacity of the staff member to perform his duties. The Director may at any time require proof that the recipient of an invalidity pension still satisfies the requirements for payment of the pension. Should the Invalidity Committee find that the requirements are no longer satisfied, entitlement to the pension shall cease. If the person concerned is not reinstated in the service of the Foundation, he shall receive:

— either the severance grant provided for in Article 11, calculated on the basis of the period of service actually completed,

— or, provided that he has reached the age of 50 or over, a retirement pension as provided for under Article 41a of the Conditions of Employment and this Annex.

Where a former staff member ◄ who has been drawing invalidity pension is reinstated in the Foundation, the time during which he received such pension shall be included for the purpose of calculating his retirement pension, without payment by him of arrears of contributions. CHAPTER IV SURVIVOR'S PENSION Where a staff member dies in service or on leave for military service his widow shall be entitled, provided that she has been married to him for at least one year at the time of his death and subject to the provisions of Articles 1 and 21 hereafter, to a widow's pension equal to 35 % of the staff member's last basic monthly salary, which shall not be less than the minimum subsistence figure defined in Article 5. It shall not be less than 60 % of the retirement pension to which her husband would have been entitled had he qualified, irrespective of length of service or of age, for such pension at the time of his death. ◄