Brussels, 18/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers told the COREPER (committee of member states' permanent representatives to the EU) on Wednesday 18 July that the Council was not currently in a position to come to agreement on the proposal aiming to reduce (from 11.6% to 11%) the level of contribution made to the pensions scheme of officials and other European Union agents, with effect from 1 July 2011.
The Commission proposed amending the level of contribution, needed to ensure actuarial balance in the pensions scheme, reducing it to 11% of basic salary.
The Commission is of the view that the Council should adopt a text of this sort, arising from staff regulations. One month ago, the European Commission president wrote to the Council indicating that it had two months to come to a decision on this text before the Commission was forced to lodge an action before the Court of Justice of the EU. “There's one month left for the Council to decide. The law has to be observed”, the Commission says. (LC/transl.rt)