General scheme and special schemes

The coordination mechanisms between the general scheme and the special schemes differ fundamentally from those described above, given that there is a high degree of similarity between the general scheme and the special schemes.

The provisions apply if a person has been subject successively or concurrently to the general scheme and one or more special schemes.

Date of entitlement and aggregation

The competent institution (to which the insured person was last subject) assesses the conditions for awarding the pension by applying the provisions of its own legislation, including those relating to invalidity.

For this purpose, as well as for the assessment of the qualifying conditions for voluntary insurance and child-raising periods, it takes into account the insurance periods completed under the various schemes as well as the other periods to be taken into account to work out the date of entitlement, insofar as they do not overlap.

Voluntary insurance

The thresholds and limits applicable for continued, additional and optional insurance and the retroactive purchase of insurance periods are those of the competent scheme at the time the application is submitted and apply equally to the entire period covered by the voluntary insurance, unless there is a subsequent change of jurisdiction.

Calculating your pension

The competent institution calculates the total pension and end-of-year allowance by applying the provisions of its own legislation to the insurance periods completed by the person concerned under the various schemes, provided that they do not overlap.

However, the provision of the general scheme setting the contribution ceiling does not apply to insurance periods completed under a special scheme.

The cost of the pension is divided between the various schemes to which the person concerned was subject. The proportion of the pension payable by each scheme is determined in proportion to the proportional increases resulting from the insurance periods completed under that scheme in relation to the total proportional increases resulting from the entire insurance record.