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Entitlement to the transitional allowance
With effect from the first day of the month following the cessation of their duties, former Members shall be entitled to a transitional allowance as referred to in Article 13 of the Statute.
Conditions
1. Where former Members who are entitled to the transitional allowance hold a mandate in another parliament or a public office, the salary to which they are entitled shall be offset against the transitional allowance. 2. Article 2(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the transitional allowance. 3. For the purposes of this Article, ‘another parliament’ shall mean any parliament with legislative powers which is established in a Member State. 4. For the purposes of this Article, ‘public office’ shall mean any of the following: (a) a paid elected post involving the exercise of the prerogatives of public authority; (b) membership of a national or regional government; (c) a post as a senior official exercising public authority or a post as an official or Member of an institution of the Union.
Offsetting of payments
1. Where a former Member is simultaneously entitled to the transitional allowance referred to in Article 13 of the Statute and to an old-age pension referred to in Article 14 of the Statute or to a pension referred to in Article 15 of the Statute, the former Member shall receive whichever of the two payments he or she opts to receive. He or she shall notify the Secretary-General of his or her decision no later than three months after the end of his or her mandate. That decision shall be irrevocable. 2. If the former Member opts for payment of the transitional allowance, the payment of his or her old-age pension or invalidity pension shall be suspended for the period of his or her entitlement to the transitional allowance.
Procedure
1. In order to be able to receive the transitional allowance, the former Member shall apply for it within three months after the end of his or her mandate, attaching a written statement indicating whether he or she is performing any of the duties referred to in Article 49 of these Implementing Measures. After that period, the date on which enjoyment of the transitional allowance takes effect shall be the first day of the month in which the application was received by the relevant services of Parliament. The period of entitlement to the transitional allowance shall be determined in accordance with Article 13(2) of the Statute. 2. The written statement referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be accompanied, if applicable, by the Member’s decision referred to in Article 50(1). 3. Any change in the conditions which gave rise to the award of the transitional allowance which could result in a change to a former Member’s entitlement to that allowance shall be notified to the relevant service of the Parliament without delay. Where there is any doubt, the Secretary-General may ask the former Member concerned to submit observations. 4. If, on the basis of facts verifiable from sources available to the public, it comes to the knowledge of the Secretary-General that the former Member is performing any of the duties referred to in Article 49, he shall suspend payment of the transitional allowance and inform the former Member concerned accordingly. 5. A former Member may renounce his or her entitlement to the transitional allowance at any time. He or she shall notify the Secretary-General of that decision.
Entitlement to an old-age pension
1. After the cessation of their term of office, Members who have exercised their mandate for at least one complete year shall be entitled, for life, to an old-age pension payable from the first day of the month following that in which they reach the age of 63, as referred to in Article 14 of the Statute. Former Members or their legal representatives shall, except in cases of force majeure, submit their application for payment of the old-age pension within six months of the commencement of entitlement. After that deadline the date on which enjoyment of the old-age pension takes effect shall be the first day of the month in which the application is received. 2. Payment of the old-age pension shall be suspended in the case of any pension claimant who is re-elected to Parliament. Old-age pension entitlements which he or she acquires as a result of his or her new mandate shall be added to the old-age pension entitlements acquired before his or her re-election. Payment of the old-age pension shall resume when the Member relinquishes his or her mandate in Parliament. 3. When a Member’s mandates are separated by an intervening period, the periods of all the mandates shall be added together for the purpose of calculating the old-age pension.
Prohibition of concurrent receipt of pensions
1. An old-age pension which a former Member receives by virtue of a mandate which he or she exercised in another parliament simultaneously with his or her mandate in the European Parliament shall be offset against the old-age pension pursuant to Article 14 of the Statute. 2. For the purposes of this Article, ‘another parliament’ shall mean a parliament as defined in Article 2(2). 3. The calculation shall be based on the total of the two pensions before the deduction of tax. 4. Any former Member who has exercised a mandate in another parliament simultaneously with the mandate in Parliament shall declare the old-age pension to which he or she is entitled by virtue of the mandate in that other parliament.
Expiry of old-age pension entitlements
On the death of a former Member, the old-age pension shall be paid up until the last day of the month in which the death occurred.
Entitlement to an invalidity pension
1. A Member who is recognised, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 59, as suffering from total invalidity preventing him or her from performing his or her duties for the remainder of that term and who therefore resigns shall be entitled to an invalidity pension payable from the date on which that resignation takes effect, without prejudice to paragraph 3 of this Article. 2. The entitlement to an invalidity pension shall lapse if the Member fails to notify his or her resignation within three months of the date on which the decision establishing his or her invalidity was officially communicated to him or her. 3. The Member’s entitlement to an invalidity pension shall begin at the end of the parliamentary term during which the invalidity arose where: (a) the Member’s invalidity prevents him or her from resigning, or (b) the decision establishing a Member’s invalidity has been adopted after the end of the parliamentary term during which the invalidity arose, or (c) the parliamentary term ends before the end of the period referred to in paragraph 2.
Calculation of invalidity pensions
1. The amount of the invalidity pension shall be 3,5 % of the salary referred to in Article 10 of the Statute for each complete year in which the mandate was exercised and, for each additional complete month, one-twelfth of that sum, but shall be at least 35 % of that salary, while not exceeding a total of 70 %. 2. The rules on the calculation of the old-age pension shall apply mutatis mutandis to the calculation of the invalidity pension.
Prohibition of concurrent receipt of pensions
1. An invalidity pension which a former Member receives by virtue of a mandate which he or she exercised in another parliament simultaneously with the mandate in Parliament shall be offset against the invalidity pension pursuant to Article 55. 2. For the purposes of this Article, ‘another parliament’ shall mean a parliament as defined in Article 2(2). 3. Any former Member who has exercised a mandate in another parliament simultaneously with the mandate in Parliament shall declare the invalidity pension to which he or she is entitled by virtue of the mandate in that other parliament.
Offsetting of payments
If a former Member is simultaneously entitled to an invalidity pension and to an old-age pension, he or she shall receive the old-age pension. However, the amount of the old-age pension may not be less than that of the invalidity pension.
Procedure
1. The Member or his or her legal representative shall submit the application for retirement on grounds of invalidity to the President of Parliament, accompanied by a medical certificate, indicating the name of the doctor who has been instructed to represent him or her in the invalidity committee referred to in Article 60. 2. Within three months of being convened by the Secretary-General, the invalidity committee referred to in Article 60 shall submit, in accordance with the terms of reference issued by Parliament, a medical report stating reasons and assessing whether the conditions governing eligibility for an invalidity pension laid down in Article 55(1) have been met. In exceptional cases, this time-limit may be extended by the Secretary-General. 3. If the medical report concludes that the Member concerned qualifies for retirement on grounds of invalidity, the President of Parliament shall confirm the entitlement of the Member to the invalidity pension and shall inform him or her of the decision, asking him or her to resign. If the medical report concludes that the Member concerned does not qualify for retirement on grounds of invalidity, the President shall inform the Member of the appeal procedures available.
Invalidity committee
1. The invalidity committee shall consist of three doctors: — the first appointed by the Member concerned, — the second appointed by Parliament, and — the third appointed by agreement between the first two doctors. In the event of failure to agree on the appointment of the third doctor within two months of the appointment of the second doctor, the third doctor shall be appointed ex officio by the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union at Parliament’s request. 2. The expenses arising from the work of the invalidity committee, including travel expenses, shall be borne by Parliament. 3. The Member may submit to the invalidity committee all reports or certificates issued by the doctor treating him or her or by those practitioners whom he or she has seen fit to consult. 4. The proceedings of the invalidity committee shall be secret.
Review of invalidity
1. Former Members who no longer meet the eligibility conditions for an invalidity pension laid down in Article 55(1) shall forfeit their entitlement to that pension. 2. Until the former Member reaches the age of 63, Parliament may require him or her to undergo an examination every five years by a doctor appointed to check whether he or she still meets the conditions governing eligibility for an invalidity pension laid down in Article 55(1). 3. That examination may also be conducted before the time indicated in paragraph 2, particularly if Parliament has received information that the former Member is performing duties in return for payment. If the occasion arises, this situation shall be assessed on the basis of facts verifiable from sources available to the public, in the light of the circumstances of each case and after an investigation in which each side has the opportunity to submit its case and reply to the case of the other side. 4. At the proposal of the doctor conducting the examination, the invalidity committee may establish that the state of health of the former Member has so improved that he or she no longer meets the eligibility conditions for an invalidity pension laid down in Article 55(1). 5. The decision to terminate the invalidity pension shall be taken by the President of Parliament, on the basis of the conclusions of the invalidity committee. Articles 59 and 60 shall apply mutatis mutandis . If the former Member fails to appoint a doctor to represent him or her in the invalidity committee, Article 60(1), second subparagraph, shall apply.
Entitlement to a survivor’s pension or orphan’s pension
1. The surviving spouse and any dependent children of a Member or former Member who, at the time of his or her death, was receiving or would in future have been entitled to receive an old-age or invalidity pension, shall be entitled to a survivor’s pension and orphans’ pensions respectively. 2. For the purpose of the application of the provisions of this Chapter, stable non-marital partners shall be treated in the same way as spouses, on condition that the couple produce an official document issued by a competent authority of a Member State acknowledging their status as non-marital partners. 3. The term ‘dependent child’ means the legitimate, natural or adopted child of a Member or former Member, or of a Member’s or former Member’s spouse, who was actually being maintained by the Member or former Member. The term ‘dependent child’ also means an unborn child or a child in respect of whom the Member or former Member has started an adoption procedure and whose adoption is completed after his or her death.
Calculation of the survivor’s pension and orphan’s pension
1. The maximum amount of the survivor’s pension and the orphan’s pension may not exceed the amount of the old-age pension to which the Member would have been entitled at the end of the parliamentary term, taking into account the period which passes between the date of death and the date of the end of that parliamentary term. 2. In the case of former Members, the maximum amount of the survivor’s pension and the orphan’s pension may not exceed the amount of the old-age pension which the Member was receiving or to which he or she would have been entitled. 3. The amount of the survivor’s pension for the surviving spouse shall be 60 % of the amount referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article and, as a minimum, 30 % of the salary referred to in Article 10 of the Statute, even if the latter amount exceeds the amounts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. The entitlement to a survivor’s pension for the surviving spouse shall not be affected by the remarriage of that spouse. A surviving spouse shall not be entitled to a survivor’s pension if the circumstances of an individual case indicate beyond reasonable doubt that the marriage was contracted for the sole purpose of obtaining the pension. If the occasion arises, that situation shall be assessed on the basis of facts verifiable from sources available to the public, in the light of the circumstances of each case and after an investigation in which each side has the opportunity to submit its case and reply to the case of the other side. 4. The amount of the orphan’s pension for a dependent child shall be 20 % of the amount referred to in paragraph 1 or 2. 5. By derogation from paragraph 4, where the number of dependent children exceeds two, the pension for each dependent child shall be determined by dividing the sum corresponding to 40 % of the maximum amount referred to in paragraph 1 or 2, as applicable, by the number of dependent children. 6. Where applicable, the maximum amount of the pension to be paid shall be shared between the spouse and the dependent children in accordance with the percentages laid down in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5. 7. By derogation from paragraphs 4 and 5, where there is no surviving spouse, the pension for each dependent child shall be equal to 20 % of the maximum amount referred to in paragraph 1 or 2, as applicable. However, in cases where the number of dependent children exceeds five, the maximum amount referred to in paragraph 1 or 2, as applicable, shall be shared equally among the dependent children entitled to an orphan’s pension.
Duration of the survivor’s pension and orphan’s pension
1. A survivor’s or orphan’s pension shall be awarded with effect from the first day of the calendar month following the date of death of the Member or former Member. 2. In the event of the death of the beneficiary, the entitlement to a survivor’s pension shall expire at the end of the month in which the beneficiary dies. 3. The entitlement to an orphan’s pension shall expire at the end of the month in which the dependent child reaches the age of 21. However, entitlement to an orphan’s pension shall be extended for the duration of the dependent child’s education or vocational training and, at the maximum, until the end of the month in which he or she reaches the age of 25. An orphan’s pension shall continue to be paid to a dependent child who is unable to support himself or herself on account of sickness or infirmity. The sickness or infirmity must be recognised by Parliament’s doctor. The beneficiary may contest the doctor’s decision by requesting a meeting of a committee constituted in accordance with the rules laid down for the invalidity committee referred to in Annex II, section 3, to the Staff Regulations. This entitlement shall expire if the dependent child becomes able to support himself or herself again. Parliament may require the dependent child to undergo an examination every five years by a doctor appointed to check whether he or she still meets the conditions governing eligibility for an orphan’s pension. 4. Surviving spouses and dependent children entitled to a pension shall submit their application for payment of the pension within six months of the commencement of their entitlement to the pension. After that period, the date on which enjoyment of the pension takes effect shall be the first day of the month in which the application was received by the relevant service of Parliament.
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