Agreement for Monaco to leave the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension scheme

Ministerial Order no. 2024-149 of 15 March 2024 (JDM no. 8688 of 29 March 2024) approves the agreement between the Fédération Agirc Arrco and the Caisse Monégasque de Retraite Complémentaire (CMRC) concerning Monaco's withdrawal from the Agirc-Arrco scheme (effective from 1 January 2024).

Historical background::

Agirc Arrco managed the supplementary pension scheme for employees in Monaco from 1964 to 2023, under the terms of the Agreement of 24 January 1964 establishing a supplementary pension scheme for employees.

An exchange of letters in February and March 2022 between the Minister of State of the Principality of Monaco and the Presidency of Agirc Arrco, formalised the withdrawal of Monaco's employers and employees from the French Agirc Arrco scheme.

Law no. 1.544 of 20 April 2023 established the Caisse Monégasque de Retraite Complémentaire (Monegasque Supplementary Pension Fund) with effect from 1 January 2024, supplemented by implementing regulations.

The memorandum of understanding concerning the withdrawal of employers and employees of the Principality of Monaco from the Agirc Arrco supplementary pension scheme signed on 4 December 2023 between the Monegasque social partners, the Director of the CMRC, the Government of Monaco and the Agirc Arrco Federation, set out the principles for this withdrawal, including the conclusion of an Exit Agreement between the CMRC and Agirc Arrco (article 8).

A personal data exchange agreement between Agirc Arrco and the CAR was signed on 3 April 2023 to provide a framework for the data reconciliation and quality research work carried out prior to the final transfer to the CMRC.

The withdrawal from the Agirc-Arrco scheme took effect on 1 January 2024:

• on the one hand, the continuation by Agirc-Arrco of the payment of supplementary retirement pensions corresponding to rights liquidated before that date in respect of salaried activity in the Principality of Monaco,
• on the other hand, the transfer to CMRC of the rights of insured persons acquired from Agirc-Arrco in respect of salaried employment in Monaco on behalf of an employer in the Principality of Monaco and not liquidated prior to this date.

What the Exit Agreement provides:

The Exit Agreement sets out the practical arrangements for implementing the transfer of rights and all operations, including financial operations, between Agirc-Arrco and CMRC, in accordance with article 39 of the aforementioned Monegasque Law no. 1.544 of 20 April 2023 and article 7§4 of the French Accord National Interprofessionnel (ANI) of 17 November 2017 relating to the Agirc-Arrco scheme.

¤ For employees ("salariés") who have not liquidated their acquired rights before 1 January 2024:

Employees are defined as "any person exercising or having exercised an activity as an employee in the Principality of Monaco on behalf of one or more employer(s) (those, active or inactive, who have joined Agirc-Arrco after having been duly authorised to hire staff on the territory of the Principality of Monaco) and who have not liquidated their supplementary pension rights before 1 January 2024".

This does not include:

• employees who have worked or are working in another country on behalf of an employer in the Principality of Monaco, except in the case of secondment or special arrangements under a bilateral social security agreement,
• employees who have worked or are working in the Principality of Monaco for a foreign employer on secondment,
• employees who have worked or are working in the Principality of Monaco but are affiliated to Agirc-Arrco on a voluntary or optional basis.

Among other things, the agreement details the type of rights covered by the transfer of rights from Agirc-Arrco to CMRC, the practical procedures and the consequences of the transfer of data and rights.

When the employers and employees of the Principality of Monaco leave the Agirc-Arrco scheme and the new scheme managed by the CMRC comes into force, the employees' rights acquired with Agirc-Arrco are transferred to the CMRC. The rights thus transferred are then cancelled in the Agirc-Arrco databases and do not give rise to any rights under this scheme.

The transfer concerns employees' rights consisting of supplementary pension points acquired in Monaco on behalf of an employer in the Principality in respect of:

• salaried activity giving rise to contributions (article 53 of the ANI),
• the integration of the banking sector as from 1st January 1994 (and as from 1st January 1993 for the Banques Populaires),
• periods of employment in failing companies (article 55 of the ANI),
• a period of unemployment giving rise to compensation under the unemployment insurance scheme (articles 59 to 66 of the ANI),
• periods of incapacity for work giving rise to compensation under the sickness insurance scheme (Articles 57 and 58 of the ANI),
• periods of activity prior to 1 January 1976 not subject to the obligation to contribute to a supplementary pension scheme (Article 54 of the ANI),
• increases for seniority (article 97 of the ANI),
• periods of accidents at work or occupational illness compensated in the Principality by the insurers in application of laws n° 444 of 16 May 1946 and n° 636 of 11 January 1958,
• periods of partial activity, Aide au Soutien à l'Emploi (ASE), Chômage Total Temporaire Renforcé (CTTR) set up by the Monegasque authorities and paid leave acquired under the CTTR (article 67 of the ANI).

In view of the complexity of the work aimed at isolating the elements of entitlement relating to periods of activity, incapacity for work or unemployment linked to a professional activity in Monaco, the Parties to the Convention must set up procedures for rectifying the elements transferred, which may concern two situations:

• elements of entitlement that have not been partially or fully transferred to the CMRC,
• elements of entitlement that have been partially or fully transferred to CMRC but are still under the jurisdiction of Agirc-Arrco.

The rectification procedures are implemented after analysis by the CMRC or Agirc-Arrco on the basis of a request from an employee or an employer or on the basis of any element that highlights an atypical situation.

As from the definitive transfer, the regulations to be applied for the handling of disputes relating to the transferred periods, particularly with regard to limitation periods for civil proceedings, are those applicable in Monaco.

¤ For pensioners ("retraités") who liquidated their acquired rights before 1 January 2024:

From 1 January 2024, these pensioners will continue to receive their supplementary retirement pension from Agirc-Arrco.

Agirc-Arrco is their sole contact for all aspects of their supplementary retirement pension.

CMRC is their sole contact for the payment of the bonus benefit ("prestation de bonification") under the conditions set out in article 40 of law no. 1.544 of 20 April 2023. The purpose of this benefit is to allow pensioners to benefit from any positive difference between the value of the retirement point paid by the CAR and the service value of the retirement point paid by AGIRC-ARRCO. Ministerial Order no. 2023-787 of 27 December 2023 sets the monthly value of the CMRC bonus point at €0.006675 for the 2024 financial year, with effect from 1 January 2024.

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