Article 46
An official appointed to a higher grade in accordance with Article 45 shall be placed in the initial step in that grade. However, officials in grades AD 9 to AD 13 carrying out the duties of head of unit who are appointed to a higher grade in accordance with Article 45 shall be placed in the second step of the new grade. The same arrangement shall apply to any official: (a) who upon promotion is appointed director or director-general, or (b) who is director or director-general and to whom the last sentence of the second paragraph of Article 44 applies."; 46) in Article 48, the third paragraph is replaced by the following:"Resignation shall take effect on the date specified by the Appointing Authority; that date shall not be more than three months after the date proposed by the official in his letter of resignation in the case of officials in function group AD, and not more than one month in the case of officials in function group AST."; 47) in the first paragraph of Article 49, the expression "13," is deleted. 48) Article 50 is amended as follows: (a) in the first paragraph the words "An official holding a post in grades A 1 or A 2" are replaced by "A senior official as defined in Article 29(2)"; (b) in the third paragraph, the words "in his category or service" are deleted; (c) the fifth paragraph is replaced by the following paragraphs:"The person concerned shall be required to provide on request written proof and to notify his or her institution of any factor that may affect entitlement to the benefit. The allowance shall not be subject to a correction coefficient. Article 45, third, fourth and fifth paragraphs, of Annex VIII shall apply by analogy."; 49) The title of Section 4, "Dismissal for incompetence", is replaced by "Procedures for dealing with incompetence"; 50) Article 51 is replaced by the following: "Article 51 1. Each institution shall define procedures to identify, deal with and remedy cases of incompetence in a timely and appropriate fashion. Once these procedures have been exhausted, an official who, on the basis of consecutive periodical reports referred to in Article 43, still proves incompetent in the performance of his duties may be dismissed, downgraded or classified in a lower function group at the same grade or a lower grade. 2. Any proposal to dismiss, downgrade or classify an official in a lower function group shall set out the reasons on which it is based and shall be communicated to the official concerned. The proposal from the Appointing Authority shall be referred to the Joint Advisory Committee referred to in Article 9(6). 3. The official shall have the right to obtain his complete personal file and to take copies of all documents relating to the procedure. He shall have at least fifteen days from the date of receipt of the proposal to prepare a defence. He may be assisted by a person of his choice. The official may submit written comments. He shall be heard by the Joint Advisory Committee. The official may also call witnesses. 4. The institution shall be represented before the Joint Advisory Committee by an official designated for that purpose by the Appointing Authority. That official shall have the same rights as the official concerned. 5. In the light of the proposal under paragraph 2 and any written and verbal statements from the official concerned or from witnesses, the Joint Advisory Committee shall deliver by a majority a reasoned opinion stating the measure which it considers appropriate in the light of the facts established at its request. It shall forward that opinion to the Appointing Authority and to the official concerned within two months of the date on which the matter is referred to it. The chairman shall not vote on decisions of the Joint Advisory Committee, except in procedural matters and where votes are tied. The Appointing Authority shall take a decision within two months of receipt of the Joint Advisory Committee's opinion, after hearing the official. The decision shall be substantiated. It shall indicate the date on which it takes effect. 6. An official dismissed for incompetence shall, for the period defined in paragraph 7, be entitled to a monthly dismissal allowance equal to the basic monthly salary of an official in the first step of grade 1. The official shall also be entitled during the same period to the family allowances provided for in Article 67. The household allowance shall be calculated on the basis of the basic monthly salary of an official in grade 1 in accordance with Article 1 of Annex VII. The allowance shall not be paid if the official resigns after the start of the procedure referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 or if he is entitled to the immediate payment of a full pension. If he is entitled to unemployment benefit under a national unemployment scheme, the amount of that benefit shall be deducted from the above allowance. 7. The period during which the payments referred to in paragraph 6 are to be made shall be: (a) three months where the official has completed less than five years' service at the date on which the dismissal decision is taken; (b) six months where the official has completed at least five years' service but less than ten; (c) nine months where the official has completed at least 10 years' service but less than 20; (d) 12 months where the official has completed over 20 years' service. 8. Officials who are downgraded or classified in a lower function group on grounds of incompetence may after a period of six years ask for all references to that measure to be deleted from their personal files. 9. Officials shall be entitled to reimbursement of reasonable expenses incurred on their initiative in the course of the proceedings, including fees payable to a defending adviser not belonging to the institution, where the proceedings provided for in this Article end without any decision being taken to dismiss, downgrade or classify the official in a lower function group."; 51) Article 52 is replaced by the following: "Article 52 Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 50, an official shall be retired: (a) either automatically on the last day of the month in which he reaches the age of 65, or (b) at his own request on the last day of the month in respect of which the request was submitted where he is at least 63 years of age or where he is between 55 and 63 years of age and satisfies the requirements for immediate payment of a pension in accordance with Article 9 of Annex VIII. The second sentence of the second paragraph of Article 48 shall apply by analogy. However, on an exceptional basis, an official may at his own request and only in the case where the Appointing Authority considers it justified in the interest of the service, carry on working until the age of 67 in which case he shall be retired automatically on the last day of the month in which he reaches that age"; 52) In Article 54, the words "career bracket or the next higher bracket" are replaced by "grade or the next higher grade"; 53) Article 55a is replaced by the following: "Article 55a 1. An official may request authorisation to work part time. The Appointing Authority may grant such authorisation if this is compatible with the interests of the service. 2. The official shall be entitled to authorisation in the following cases: (a) to care for a child under 9 years of age, (b) to care for a child aged between 9 and 12, if the reduction in working time is no more than 20 % of normal working time, (c) to care for a seriously ill or disabled spouse, relative in the ascending line, relative in the descending line, brother or sister, (d) to take part in further training, or (e) as of the age of 55 during the last five years before retirement. Where part-time is requested in order to take part in further training, or as of the age of 55, the Appointing Authority may refuse authorisation or postpone its date of effect only in exceptional circumstances and for overriding service-related reasons. Where such entitlement to authorisation is exercised to care for a seriously ill or disabled spouse, relative in the ascending line, relative in the descending line, brother or sister, or to take part in further training, the total of all such periods shall not exceed five years over the official's career. 3. The Appointing Authority shall reply to the official's request within 60 days. 4. The rules governing part-time work and the procedure for granting authorisation are laid down in Annex IVa."; 54) the following Article is inserted: "Article 55b An official may request authorisation to work half-time in the form of job-sharing in a post identified by the Appointing Authority as appropriate for that purpose. The authorisation to work half-time by job-sharing shall not be limited in time. It may, however, be withdrawn by the Appointing Authority in the interests of the service giving the official six months' notice. Likewise, the Appointing Authority may, on application of the official concerned and giving at least six months' notice, withdraw the authorisation. In this case, the official may be transferred to a different post. Article 59a and, except for the third sentence of paragraph 2, Article 3 of Annex IVa shall apply. The Appointing Authority may lay down detailed rules for the application of this Article."; 55) Article 56 is amended as follows: (a) in the second paragraph, "Categories A and B and in the Language Service" is replaced by "function group AD, and in function group AST 5 to 11."; (b) in the third paragraph, "Categories C and D" is replaced by "grade AST 1 to AST 4"; 56) the following Article is inserted: "Article 56c Special allowances may be granted to certain officials to compensate for particularly arduous working conditions. The Council shall, on a proposal from the Commission presented after consulting the Staff Regulations Committee, determine the categories of beneficiaries, and the rates and conditions of such special allowances."; 57) Article 58 is replaced by the following: "Article 58 Pregnant women shall, in addition to the leave provided for in Article 57, be entitled on production of a medical certificate to twenty weeks of leave. The leave shall start not earlier than six weeks before the expected date of confinement shown in the certificate and end not earlier than 14 weeks after the date of confinement. In the case of multiple or premature birth or the birth of a handicapped child, the duration shall be of 24 weeks. Premature birth for the purposes of this provision is a birth taking place before the end of the 34th week of pregnancy."; 58) Article 59 is replaced by the following: "1. An official who provides evidence of being unable to carry out his duties by reason of illness or accident shall be entitled to sick leave. The official concerned shall notify his institution of his incapacity as soon as possible and at the same time state his current address. He shall produce a medical certificate if he is absent for more than three days. This certificate must be sent on the fifth day of absence at the latest, as evidenced by the date as postmarked. Failing this, and unless failure to send the certificate is due to reasons beyond his control, the official's absence shall be considered as unauthorised. The official may at any time be required to undergo a medical examination arranged by the institution. If the examination cannot take place for reasons attributable to the official, his absence shall be considered as unauthorised as from the date that the examination is due to take place. If the finding made in the examination is that the official is able to carry out his duties, his absence shall, subject to the following subparagraph, be regarded as unjustified from the date of the examination. If the official considers the conclusions of the medical examination arranged by the Appointing Authority to be unjustified on medical grounds, he or a doctor acting on his behalf may within two days submit to the institution a request that the matter be referred to an independent doctor for an opinion. The institution shall immediately transmit the request to another doctor agreed upon by the official's doctor and the institution's medical officer. Failing such agreement within five days of the request, the institution shall select a person from a list of independent doctors to be established for this purpose each year by common consent of the Appointing Authority and the Staff Committee. The official may within two working days object to the institution's choice, whereupon the institution shall choose another person from the list, which choice shall be final. The independent doctor's opinion given after consultation of the official's doctor and the institution's medical officer shall be binding. Where the independent doctor's opinion confirms the conclusion of the examination arranged by the institution, the absence shall be treated as unjustified from the date of that examination. Where the independent doctor's opinion does not confirm the conclusion of that examination, the absence shall be treated for all purposes as having been justified. 2. If, over a period of 12 months, an official is absent for up to three days because of sickness for a total of more than 12 days, he shall produce a medical certificate for any further absence because of sickness. His absence shall be considered to be unjustified as from the thirteenth day of absence on account of sickness without a medical certificate. 3. Without prejudice to the application of the rules on disciplinary proceedings, where appropriate, any absence considered to be unjustified under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be deducted from the annual leave of the official concerned. In the event that the official has no outstanding leave entitlement, he shall lose the benefit of his remuneration for the corresponding period. 4. The Appointing Authority may refer to the Invalidity Committee the case of any official whose sick leave totals more than 12 months in any period of three years. 5. An official may be required to take leave after examination by the institution's medical officer if his state of health so requires or if a member of his household is suffering from a contagious disease. In cases of dispute, the procedure laid down in the fifth to seventh subparagraphs of paragraph 1 shall apply. 6. Officials shall undergo a medical check-up every year either by the institution's medical officer or by a medical practitioner chosen by them. In the latter case, the practitioner's fees shall be payable by the institution up to a maximum amount fixed for a period of no more than three years by the Appointing Authority after consulting the Staff Regulations Committee."; 59) Article 59a is replaced by the following: "Article 59a The annual leave of an official who is authorised to work part time shall, for as long as he is so authorised, be reduced proportionally."; 60) in Article 66 the table is replaced by the following: ">TABLE>"; 61) Article 66a is replaced by the following: "Article 66a 1. By way of derogation from Article 3(1) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68 of the Council of February 1968 laying down the conditions and procedure for applying the tax for the benefit of the European Communities(1), a temporary measure regarding remuneration paid by the Communities to staff in active employment, to be known as the 'special levy', shall be applied from 1 May 2004 to 31 December 2012. 2. >TABLE> 3. (a) The base for the special levy shall be the basic salary used to calculate remuneration, minus: (i) social security and pension contributions and the tax, before special levy, payable by an official in the same grade and step without dependants within the meaning of Article 2 of Annex VII, and (ii) an amount equal to the basic salary of an official in grade 1, step 1. (b) The components used to determine the base for the special levy shall be expressed in euro and weighted at 100. 4. The special levy shall be deducted monthly at source; the proceeds shall be entered as revenue in the general budget of the European Union."; 62) Article 68a is replaced by the following: "Article 68a An official who is authorised to work part time shall be entitled to remuneration calculated as provided for in Annex IVa."; 63) Article 70 is replaced by the following: "Article 70 In the event of an official's death, the surviving spouse or dependent children shall receive the deceased's full remuneration until the end of the third month after the month in which the death occurred. In the event of the death of a person entitled to a pension or invalidity allowance, the above provisions shall apply in respect of the deceased's pension or allowance."; 64) Article 70a is deleted; 65) Article 72 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraphs are inserted after the first subparagraph:"The unmarried partner of an official shall be treated as the spouse under the sickness insurance scheme, where the first three conditions in Article 1(2)(c) of Annex VII are met. The institutions may, under the rules referred to in the first subparagraph, confer on one of their number the power to lay down the rules governing the reimbursement of expenses in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 110."; (b) in paragraph 1a, first sentence, the words "he cannot be covered by any other public scheme of sickness insurance" are replaced by "he is not in gainful employment"; (c) in paragraph 1b, first sentence, the words "he or she cannot be covered by any other public scheme of sickness insurance" are replaced by "he or she is not in gainful employment"; (d) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: "2. An official who has remained in the service of the Communities until the age of 63 years or who is in receipt of an invalidity allowance shall be entitled to the benefits provided for in paragraph 1 after he has left the service. The amount of contribution shall be calculated by reference to the amount of pension or allowance. Those benefits shall also apply to the person entitled to survivor's pension following the death of an official who was in active employment or who remained in the service of the Communities until the age of 63 years, or the death of a person entitled to an invalidity allowance. The amount of contribution shall be calculated by reference to the amount of the survivor's pension."; (e) paragraph 2a is replaced by the following: "2a. The following shall likewise be entitled to the benefits provided for in paragraph 1, on condition that they are not in gainful employment: (i) former officials entitled to retirement pensions who leave the service of the Communities before reaching the age of 63, (ii) persons entitled to a survivor's pension as a result of the death of a former official who left the service of the Communities before reaching the age of 63. The contribution referred to in paragraph 1 shall be calculated by reference to the former official's pension before application, where appropriate, of the reduction coefficient provided for in Article 9 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations. However, persons entitled to an orphan's pension shall not receive the benefit provided for in paragraph 1 unless they apply for it. The contribution shall be calculated by reference to the orphan's pension."; (f) the following paragraphs are inserted: "(2b) In the case of persons entitled to a retirement pension or a survivor's pension, the contribution referred to in paragraphs 2 and 2a may not be less than that calculated by reference to the basic salary corresponding to the first step in grade 1. (2c) Officials dismissed in accordance with Article 51 and not entitled to a retirement pension shall likewise be entitled to the benefits provided for in paragraph 1, on condition that they are not gainfully employed and that they bear half the contribution calculated by reference to their last basic salary."; 66) in Article 76 the words "a disability or" are inserted after "reason of"; 67) the following Article is inserted: "Article 76a A surviving spouse who has a serious or protracted illness or who is disabled may receive financial aid increasing the pension from the institution for the duration of the illness or disability on the basis of an examination of the social and medical circumstances of the person concerned. Rules implementing this Article shall be fixed by common accord between the institutions, after consulting the Staff Regulations Committee."; 68) In Title V, the heading of Chapter 3 is replaced by "Pensions and invalidity allowance"; 69) Article 77 is amended as follows: (a) in the first paragraph, the number "60" is replaced by "63"; (b) in the second paragraph, the second and third sentences are replaced by the following sentence: "1,90 % of this final basic salary shall be payable to an official for each year of service reckoned in accordance with Article 3 of Annex VIII"; (c) in the fifth paragraph, the number "60" is replaced by "63"; 70) Article 78 is replaced by the following: "Article 78 An official shall be entitled, in the manner provided for in Articles 13 to 16 of Annex VIII, to an invalidity allowance in the case of total permanent invalidity preventing him from performing the duties corresponding to a post in his function group. Article 52 shall apply by analogy to recipients of an invalidity allowance. If the recipient of an invalidity allowance retires before the age of 65 without having reached the maximum pension entitlement, the general rules on retirement pensions shall be applied. The amount of the retirement pension shall be based on the salary for the grade and step occupied by the official when he became an invalid. The invalidity allowance shall be equal to 70 % of the official's last basic salary. However, it may not be less than the minimum subsistence figure. The invalidity allowance shall be subject to contributions to the pension scheme, calculated on the basis of that allowance. Where the invalidity arises from an accident in the course of or in connection with the performance of an official's duties, from an occupational disease, from a public-spirited act or from risking his life to save another human being, the invalidity allowance may not be less than 120 % of the minimum subsistence figure. In such cases, moreover, contributions to the pension scheme shall be paid in full from the budget of the institution or body referred to in Article 1b."; 71) Article 79 is amended as follows: (a) in the first and second paragraphs, the word "widow" is replaced by "surviving spouse" and the words "her husband" are replaced by "the deceased"; (b) in the first paragraph the words "of the retirement or invalidity pension" are replaced by "of the retirement pension or invalidity allowance"; (c) in the third paragraph the words "the second paragraph of Article 78" are replaced by "the fifth paragraph of Article 78"; 72) Article 79a is deleted; 73) Article 80 is amended as follows: (a) the first paragraph is replaced by the following:"Where an official or person entitled to a retirement pension or invalidity allowance dies leaving no spouse entitled to a survivor's pension, the children dependent on the deceased within the meaning of Article 2 of Annex VII at the time of his death shall be entitled to orphans' pension in accordance with Article 21 of Annex VIII."; (b) in the third paragraph, the words "a retirement or invalidity pension" are replaced by "a retirement pension or invalidity allowance"; (c) the fourth paragraph is replaced by the following:"For persons treated as dependent children within the meaning of Article 2(4) of Annex VII, the orphan's pension may not exceed an amount equal to twice the dependent child allowance."; (d) the following paragraph is inserted after the fourth paragraph:"Where a child has been adopted, the death of the natural parent who has been replaced by the adoptive parent shall not give rise to payment of an orphan's pension."; (e) the existing fifth paragraph becomes the sixth paragraph and in this new sixth paragraph the number "60" is replaced by "63"; (f) the following paragraph is added:"Persons in receipt of an orphan's pension may not receive more than one such pension from the Community. Where a surviving child has entitlement to more than one Community pension, he shall receive the pension providing the higher or highest amount."; 74) in Article 81, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:"A person entitled to a retirement pension or to an invalidity allowance, or to a survivor's pension shall be entitled, under the conditions laid down in Annex VII, to the family allowances specified in Article 67; the household allowance shall be calculated by reference to the pension or the allowance of the recipient. These allowances shall be paid to recipients of a survivor's pension only in respect of the children dependent on the deceased official or former official at the time of death."; 75) Article 81a is amended as follows: (a) paragraph 1 is amended as follows: (i) in point (c), the words "invalidity pension" are replaced by "invalidity allowance"; (ii) in point (d), the number "60" is replaced by "63"; (b) in paragraph 3, second subparagraph, the words "third and fourth" are replaced by "and third"; 76) Article 82 is replaced by the following: "Article 82 1. The pensions provided for above shall be calculated by reference to salary scales in force on the first day of the month in which entitlement commences. No correction coefficient shall be applicable to pensions. Pensions expressed in euro shall be paid in one of the currencies referred to in Article 45 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations. 2. Where the Council, in accordance with Article 65(1), decides to adapt remunerations, the same adaptation shall be applied to pensions. 3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply by analogy to recipients of an invalidity allowance."; 77) Article 83 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 2, the figure "8,25 %" is replaced by "9,25 %" and the following sentence is added:"The contribution shall be adjusted in accordance with the rules laid down in Annex XII."; (b) paragraph 4 is deleted; 78) the following Article is inserted: "Article 83a 1. The scheme shall be kept in balance in accordance with the detailed rules set out in Annex XII. 2. Agencies which do not receive a subsidy from the general budget of the European Union shall pay into that budget the entire amount of the contributions needed to finance the scheme. 3. On the occasion of the five-yearly actuarial assessment in accordance with Annex XII and in order to ensure the balance of the scheme, the Council shall decide on the rate of contribution and any change to the pensionable age. 4. Each year the Commission shall present to the Council an updated version of the actuarial assessment, in accordance with Article 1(2) of Annex XII. Where it is shown that there is a gap of at least 0,25 points between the rate of contribution currently applied and the rate required to maintain actuarial balance, the Council shall consider whether the rate should be adapted, in accordance with the arrangements laid down in Annex XII. 5. For the purposes of paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article, the Council shall act by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission as provided for in the first indent of Article 205(2) of the EC Treaty. For the purposes of paragraph 3, the Commission's proposal shall be presented after consultation of the Staff Regulations Committee."; 79) In Article 85 the following paragraph is added:"The request for recovery must be made no later than five years from the date on which the sum was paid. Where the Appointing Authority is able to establish that the recipient deliberately misled the administration with a view to obtaining the sum concerned, the request for recovery shall not be invalidated even if this period has elapsed."; 80) In Article 85a(2), sixth indent, the words "invalidity pensions" are replaced by "invalidity allowances"; 81) Article 86(2) and (3) are replaced by the following: "2. Where the Appointing Authority or OLAF becomes aware of evidence of failure within the meaning of paragraph 1, they may launch administrative investigations to verify whether such failure has occurred. 3. Disciplinary rules, procedures and measures and the rules and procedures covering administrative investigations are laid down in Annex IX."; 82) Articles 87, 88 and 89 are deleted; 83) Article 90(3) is deleted; 84) the following Articles are inserted: "Article 90a Any person to whom these Staff Regulations apply may submit to the Director of OLAF a request within the meaning of Article 90(1), asking the Director to take a decision relating to him in connection with investigations by OLAF. Such person may also submit to the Director of OLAF a complaint within the meaning of Article 90(2) against an act adversely affecting him in connection with investigations by OLAF.