Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

Article 142 Union liabilities at the end of 2020

1. The United Kingdom shall be liable to the Union for its share of the financing of the Union's liabilities incurred until 31 December 2020, with the exception of the following:

(a) liabilities with corresponding assets, including: Union financial assistance loan assets and the associated balance sheet liabilities, assets corresponding to property, plant and equipment and provisions related to the Joint Research Centre's nuclear sites dismantlement, and all lease‐related obligations, intangible assets and inventories, any assets and liabilities relating to the management of foreign currency risk, accrued and deferred income and all provisions other than in respect of fines, legal proceedings and financial guarantee liabilities; and

(b) liabilities and assets which are related to the operation of the budget and the management of own resources, including outstanding pre-financing advances, receivables, cash, payables, and accrued charges, including those related to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund or already included in the outstanding commitments (RAL).

2. In particular, the United Kingdom shall be liable for its share of the Union's liability for pension rights and rights to other employment-related benefits accrued on or before 31 December 2020. Payments related to this liability shall be made in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 6.

3. The Union shall communicate to the United Kingdom by 31 March of each year, starting in 2022, the payments made during the previous year corresponding to the liabilities outstanding at 31 December 2020 and the amount of the contribution of the United Kingdom to those payments.

4. By 31 March of each year, starting in 2022, the Union shall communicate to the United Kingdom a specific document on pensions relating to the situation at 31 December of the preceding year in respect of the liability referred to in paragraph 2, which shall provide:

(a) the remaining amounts still to be paid in relation to the liabilities described in paragraph 5;

(b) the calculations made and the data and assumptions used to determine the amount that the United Kingdom is to pay, by 30 June of the current year, in relation to staff pension payments and the Union budget contributions to the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS) made in the preceding year in accordance with paragraph 6 and an estimate of those amounts for the current year;

(c) concerning the population at 31 December 2020, information on the numbers of actual beneficiaries and estimated future beneficiaries of the staff pension and sickness insurance schemes at the end of the previous year and their accumulated post-employment rights at that time; and

(d) the outstanding United Kingdom liabilities calculated using actuarial valuations made in accordance with the relevant International Public Sector Accounting Standards and an explanation of the evolution of this liability compared to the previous year.

That document may be updated by 30 September of the same year to reflect the definitive figures for the preceding year.

5. With respect to the United Kingdom's liability for the pension rights and rights to other employment-related benefits referred to in paragraph 2 as regards pensions of the Members and EU high-level public office holders covered by Council Regulation No 422/67/EEC, 5/67/Euratom(1), Decision 2005/684/EC, Euratom of the European Parliament(2) and Council Regulation (EU) 2016/300(3), the United Kingdom shall contribute to the liabilities as they are recorded in the consolidated accounts of the Union for the financial year 2020 in 10 instalments starting on 31 October 2021.

6. With respect to the United Kingdom's liability for the pension rights and rights to other employment-related benefits referred to in paragraph 2 as regards pensions of officials of the Union established in accordance with Articles 77 to 84 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and as regards the pensions of temporary staff, contract staff and parliamentary assistants established in accordance with Articles 33 to 40, Articles 101 to 114 and Article 135, respectively, of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, the United Kingdom shall contribute annually to the net payments made from the Union budget to each beneficiary and to the related contribution of the Union budget to the JSIS for each beneficiary or person who benefits through a beneficiary. The payments of that contribution shall start on 30 June 2022.

For the pensions referred to in the first subparagraph, the payment by the United Kingdom shall be the sum of the net payments made by the Union budget in the preceding year for each beneficiary, multiplied by the United Kingdom's share and by a percentage that is specific to each beneficiary ("specific percentage"). The specific percentage shall be as follows:

(a) for a beneficiary receiving pension on 1 January 2021, the specific percentage shall be 100 %;

(b) for any other beneficiary of a pension, the specific percentage shall be calculated as the ratio between the pension rights acquired in accordance with the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and in particular in Annex VIII thereto on or before 31 December 2020, including pension rights transferred in at that date, and the acquired pension rights at the date of retirement or death if earlier, or at the date the person leaves the scheme;

(c) for the purposes of the contribution of the budget to the JSIS, the specific percentage shall be calculated as the ratio between the number of years during which the beneficiary contributed to the pension scheme until 31 December 2020 and the total number of years at retirement during which the beneficiary, or the person covered by the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union who is the basis for the rights under the JSIS, contributed to the pension scheme.

For a beneficiary of a survivor's pension or an orphan's pension established in accordance with the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, the calculation shall be made on the basis of the career of the person covered by those Staff Regulations which is the basis for the survivor's pension or the orphan's pension.

As long as the liability in relation to this paragraph is not extinguished, in any given year ("year N") the United Kingdom may send the Union before 1 March of year N a request to pay the outstanding liability at 31 December of year N. The Union shall establish the amount of the outstanding liability in relation to the pension and JSIS post-employment benefits, using the same methodology as used in point (d) of paragraph 4. If the United Kingdom agrees, it shall pay that amount in five instalments, with the first payment taking place in the year N+1. The United Kingdom shall also cover its liability for the year N through the procedure set out in this paragraph. After that payment has been completed, and provided that the payments referred to in paragraph 5 have been completed, the remaining obligations under this Article shall be extinguished. The Committee on the financial provisions referred to in point (f) of Article 165(1) and the Joint Committee shall be informed of this situation.

(1)

Regulation No 422/67/EEC, 5/67/Euratom of the Council of 25 July 1967 determining the emoluments of the President and members of the Commission and of the President, Judges, Advocates-General and Registrar of the Court of Justice (OJ P 187, 8.8.1967, p. 1).

(2)

Decision 2005/684/EC, Euratom of the European Parliament of 28 September 2005 adopting the Statute for Members of the European Parliament (OJ L 262, 7.10.2005, p. 1).

(3)

Council Regulation (EU) 2016/300 of 29 February 2016 determining the emoluments of EU high-level public office holders (OJ L 58, 4.3.2016, p. 1).