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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
CM Documents |
CM(2020)149 |
9 November 2020[1] |
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1391st meeting, 8 December 2020 11 Programme, Budget and Administration
11.3 Amendments to the Council of Europe pension schemes Overview Item to be considered by the GR-PBA at its meeting on 24 November 2020 |
1. Permanent staff of the Council of Europe are covered by one of the three following pension schemes:
- staff recruited before 1 January 2003 are affiliated to the Co-ordinated Pension Scheme (Appendix V to the Staff Regulations);
- staff recruited between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2013 are affiliated to the New Pension Scheme (NPS) (Appendix V bis to the Staff Regulations);
- staff recruited on or after 1 April 2013 are affiliated to the Third Pension Scheme (TPS) (Appendix V ter to the Staff Regulations).
2. The Secretary General proposes hereafter a series of amendments to the Co-ordinated Pension Scheme (CPS), the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and the Third Pension Scheme (TPS). With regard to the Co-ordinated Pension Scheme, substantial amendments are recommended by the Co-ordinating Committee on Remuneration (CCR) in form of CCR reports, while technical amendments such as corrections of minor errors or typos are suggested by the Pensions Administrative Committee of the Co-ordinated Organisations (PACCO). With regard to the New Pension Scheme and the Third Pension Scheme, since they are not co‑ordinated, both substantial and technical amendments are recommended by PACCO.
Conditions of pensioners’ entitlement to the education allowance and technical amendments under the CPS
3. The first set of proposed amendments concerns the pensioners’ entitlement to the education allowance and technical amendments under the CPS. The Secretary General recalls that on 21 November 2019 the Deputies already took note of the 263rd report of the Co-ordinating Committee on Remuneration (CCR) and adopted the decision CM/Del/Dec(2019)1361/11.3, approving in principle the recommendations of the CCR that the review of the pensioners’ conditions of entitlement to the education allowance under the Co-ordinated Pension Scheme, as set out in document CM(2019)165, be implemented within a period of five years. The Deputies also already adopted in principle a number of technical amendments to the Co‑ordinated Pension Scheme as set out in the 263rd report of the Co-ordinating Committee on Remuneration (CCR) and invited the Secretary General to present the necessary amendments to the Staff Regulations to this effect in due course.
4. The amendments to the Staff Regulations to reflect the aforementioned decisions are shown in the draft Resolution contained in document CM(2020)146.
Amendments to ensure consistency between the CPS and the NPS/TPS
5. For the NPS and the TPS, the Secretary General proposes, on the basis of favourable technical opinions of the PACCO, a number of amendments aimed at ensuring, where relevant, congruent forms between the CPS and the NPS and the TPS.
6. Full details on this review are contained in documents CM(2020)147-add and CM(2020)148-add. The said document also covers technical amendments and the review of the pensioners’ conditions of entitlement to the education allowance in the NPS and the TPS.
7. The amendments to the Staff Regulations to reflect the aforementioned recommendations are shown in the draft Resolutions contained in documents CM(2020)147 and CM(2020)148.
Review of the early retirement coefficients
8. The CPS, the NPS and the TPS provide an option for early retirement, subject to a reduction in the pension paid (the earlier a person retires, the greater the reduction). The reduction coefficients applicable in the event of early retirement are defined in Article 8 of each of the Co-ordinated Pension Scheme and of the NPS, whereas the reduction coefficients applicable in the event of early retirement of staff covered by the TPS are contained in instructions by the Secretary General. The reduction coefficients are reviewed regularly on the basis of actuarial studies.
9. For the CPS, the review is subject to a decision by the Committee of Ministers, based on a CCR report. Full details on this review are contained in the 267th CCR report (cf. document CM(2020)145). The review results in revised early retirement coefficients for the CPS, which are set out in the tables contained in document CM(2020)146.
10. For the NPS, the review is also subject to a decision by the Committee of Ministers, based on a favourable PACCO technical opinion. Full details on this review are contained in the PACCO technical opinion, as set out in document CM(2020)147-add. The review results in revised early retirement coefficients for the NPS, which are set out in the tables contained in document CM(2020)147.
11. The amendments to the Staff Regulations to reflect the aforementioned recommendations are shown in the draft Resolutions contained in documents CM(2020)146 and CM(2020)147.
12. For the TPS, the review is subject to instructions by the Secretary General, based on a PACCO technical opinion. Consequently, a decision of the Committee of Ministers is not required.
Review of the actuarial coefficients
13. Further, the Secretary General informs the Deputies that in line with the actuarial studies that were carried out for the review of the staff contribution rate recommended by the 266th Report of the CCR (CM(2019)168) and the review of the early retirement coefficients recommended by the 267th Report of the CCR (cf. document CM(2020)145), the PACCO recommended the review of the actuarial coefficients presented in the Annex of the Implementing Instructions of Article 12 of the CPS, NPS and TPS, respectively.
14. Full details on this review are contained in the documents CM(2020)146-add, CM(2020)147-add and CM(2020)148-add which contain favourable technical opinions in respect of each scheme. However, since the review in this respect of all three pensions schemes is subject to instructions by the Secretary General, a decision of the Committee of Ministers is not required.
Other technical amendments specific to the NPS and the TPS
15. The Secretary General proposes other technical amendments which are aimed at modifying mechanisms that are specific to the NPS and TPS, in particular the mechanisms of the pension rights transfer.
16. Some of these amendments aim at improving the transfer of pension rights mechanism, by making it more favourable when the inward transfer takes place from the pension scheme of another international organisation. In addition, a set of punctual technical amendments are recommended.
17. The amendments to the Staff Regulations to reflect the aforementioned recommendations are shown in the draft Resolutions contained in documents CM(2020)147 and CM(2020)148.
Other technical amendments specific to the TPS
18. Finally, the Secretary General proposes technical amendments concerning the provisions governing the family allowance system under the TPS, as set out in the draft Resolution contained in document CM(2020)148.