Article 96
1. A former member of the contract staff who becomes unemployed when his service with an institution of the Community is terminated, and: (a) who is not in receipt of a retirement pension or invalidity allowance from the Community, (b) whose service is not terminated by resignation or by cancellation of the contract for disciplinary reasons, (c) who has completed a minimum of six months' service, (d) who is resident in a Member State, shall be eligible for a monthly unemployment allowance under the conditions laid down below. Where he is entitled to unemployment benefits under a national scheme, he shall be obliged to declare this to the institution to which he belonged, which shall immediately inform the Commission thereof. In such cases, the amount of those benefits shall be deducted from the allowance paid under paragraph 3. 2. To be eligible for this unemployment allowance, a former member of the contract staff shall: (a) be registered, at his own request, as seeking employment with the employment authorities of the Member State in which he establishes his residence; (b) fulfil the obligations laid down by the law of that Member State for persons in receipt of unemployment benefits under that law; (c) forward every month to the institution to which he belonged, which shall immediately forward it to the Commission, a certificate issued by the competent national employment authority stating whether or not he has fulfilled the obligations and conditions referred to in (a) and (b). The allowance may be granted or maintained by the Community, even where the national obligations referred to under (b) have not been fulfilled, in cases of illness, accident, maternity, invalidity or a situation recognised as being similar or where the national authority, competent to meet those obligations, has given a dispensation. The Commission shall, after obtaining the opinion of a committee of experts, lay down such provisions as it deems necessary for applying this Article. 3. The unemployment allowance shall be set by reference to the basic salary attained by the former member of the contract staff at the time of the termination of his service. The allowance shall be set at: (a) 60 % of the basic salary for an initial period of 12 months, (b) 45 % of the basic salary for the 13th to the 24th month, (c) 30 % of the basic salary for the 25th to the 36th month. Other than during an initial six-month period, in which the lower limit specified below is applicable but the upper limit is not, the amounts thus calculated may neither be less than EUR 878,64 nor exceed EUR 1757,28. These limits shall be adjusted, in the same way as the salary scales set out in Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, in accordance with Article 65 of the Staff Regulations. 4. The period during which the unemployment allowance is payable to a former member of the contract staff may not be more than 36 months from the date of termination of service and shall in no case exceed the equivalent of one third of the actual length of service completed. However, if, during that period, the former member of the contract staff ceases to fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2, payment of the unemployment allowance shall be suspended. Payment shall be resumed if, before the expiry of that period, the former member of the contract staff again fulfils the said conditions and is not entitled to national unemployment benefit. 5. A former member of the contract staff who is eligible for the unemployment allowance shall be entitled to the family allowances provided for in Article 67 of the Staff Regulations. The household allowance shall be calculated on the basis of the unemployment allowance under the conditions laid down in Article 1 of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations. The person concerned shall be obliged to declare any allowances of the same kind paid from other sources to himself or to his spouse; such allowances shall be deducted from those to be paid on the basis of this Article. A former member of the contract staff who is eligible for the unemployment allowance shall be entitled, as provided for in Article 72 of the Staff Regulations, to insurance cover against sickness without having to make any contribution. 6. The unemployment allowance and family allowances shall be paid by the Commission in euro. No correction coefficient shall be applicable. 7. Members of the contract staff shall contribute one third of the financing of the unemployment insurance scheme. That contribution shall be set at 0,81 % of the basic salary of the person concerned after deducting a standard allowance of EUR 798,77 and without taking account of the correction coefficients provided for in Article 64 of the Staff Regulations. The contribution shall be deducted each month from the salary of the person concerned and paid, together with the remaining two thirds to be borne by the institution, into a Special Unemployment Fund. This Fund shall be common to the institutions and the latter shall pay their contributions to the Commission each month, no later than eight days after the payment of remunerations. All expenditure arising out of the application of this Article shall be authorised and paid by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation governing the general budget of the European Communities. 8. Unemployment allowances paid to former members of the contract staff who are unemployed shall be subject to Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68. 9. The national departments with responsibility for employment and unemployment, acting in accordance with their national legislation, and the Commission shall cooperate with each other in an effective manner in order to ensure that this Article is properly applied. 10. The detailed arrangements adopted on the basis of Article 28a(10) shall be applicable for this Article, without prejudice to the provisions of the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article. 11. One year after the introduction of this unemployment insurance scheme and every two years thereafter, the Commission shall present the Council with a report on the financial situation of the scheme. Independently of this report, the Commission may present to the Council proposals for adjusting the contributions provided for in paragraph 7 if this is necessary in the interests of the balance of the scheme. The Council shall act on the proposals in accordance with paragraph 3.