Last Updated on May 29, 2021 by LawEuro
Members of the Bundestag Act (Laws / Regulations of Germany)
Part Five
Benefits for former Members of the Bundestag and their surviving dependants
Section 18
Transitional emoluments
(1) An outgoing Member with at least one year of membership shall receive transitional emoluments. The transitional emoluments, amounting to the Members’ remuneration specified in section 11(1) of this Act, shall be paid for one month for each year of membership, up to a maximum of eighteen months. Periods of earlier membership of the Bundestag for which transitional emoluments have already been paid are not reckonable. Membership of the Bundestag lasting more than half a year shall be regarded as a full year for the purposes of the calculation described in the second sentence above.
(2) From the second month after the date of severance from the Bundestag, all earned income and pension benefits shall be set off against the transitional emoluments. Income from membership of the European Parliament shall not be set off against these emoluments if the European Parliament already makes provision for the transitional emoluments to be set off against its own remuneration.
(3) On request, the transitional emoluments referred to in subsection (1) above may be paid as a single gratuity, monthly or at half the prescribed amount for double the prescribed period. The third sentence of subsection (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis.
(4) If the former Member re-enters the Bundestag, his or her entitlement to monthly payments under subsection (1) above shall be suspended. If the former Member has received the transitional emoluments in the form of a gratuity, he or she shall repay the amount that would have accrued after the date of re-entry if he or she had been receiving monthly payments. The President shall determine the instalments in which this amount is to be repaid.
(5) If a former Member dies, the benefits referred to in subsection (1) above shall continue to be paid to the surviving spouse, to the civil partner and to the former Member’s natural and adopted children or shall be left to them if no pension rights have accrued under this Act.
(6) A former Member who belongs to the European Parliament may only claim his or her transitional emoluments after severance from the European Parliament.
(7) Subsection (1) above shall not apply if the Member loses his or her membership of the Bundestag on the basis of section 15(2)(2) of the Federal Electoral Act. The President of the Bundestag may suspend payments if there are likely to be proceedings which give rise to the consequences described in section 15(2)(2) of the Federal Electoral Act.
Section 19
Entitlement to receive superannuation benefits
(1) After leaving the Bundestag, a Member shall receive superannuation benefits when he or she reaches his or her 67th birthday, provided that he or she belonged to the Bundestag for at least one year.
(2) Members of the Bundestag born before 1 January 1947 shall attain pensionable age on reaching their 65th birthday. For Members of the Bundestag born after 31 December 1946, pensionable age shall be raised as follows:
| Year of birth | Increase (in months) | New pensionable age | |
| years | months | ||
| 1947 | 1 | 65 | 1 |
| 1948 | 2 | 65 | 2 |
| 1949 | 3 | 65 | 3 |
| 1950 | 4 | 65 | 4 |
| 1951 | 5 | 65 | 5 |
| 1952 | 6 | 65 | 6 |
| 1953 | 7 | 65 | 7 |
| 1954 | 8 | 65 | 8 |
| 1955 | 9 | 65 | 9 |
| 1956 | 10 | 65 | 10 |
| 1957 | 11 | 65 | 11 |
| 1958 | 12 | 66 | 0 |
| 1959 | 14 | 66 | 2 |
| 1960 | 16 | 66 | 4 |
| 1961 | 18 | 66 | 6 |
| 1962 | 20 | 66 | 8 |
| 1963 | 22 | 66 | 10 |
(3) If a former Member belonged to the Bundestag for two or more non-consecutive periods, the periods shall be added together. With each year of membership of the Bundestag beyond the eighth year, the right to receive superannuation benefits shall accrue one year earlier. The fourth sentence of section 18(1) of this Act shall apply, mutatis mutandis.
On the date of the first sitting of the 19th Bundestag, the following version of section 19(3) and (4) of this Act shall enter into force:
Section 19
Entitlement to receive superannuation benefits
(3) If a former Member belonged to the Bundestag for two or more non-consecutive periods, the periods shall be added together. The fourth sentence of section 18(1) of this Act shall apply, mutatis mutandis.
(4) Upon application, superannuation benefits may be drawn early with effect from the former Member’s 63rd birthday. In this case, the superannuation benefits shall be reduced by 0.3 of a percentage point for each month prior to the pensionable age defined in subsections (1) and (2) above in which superannuation benefits were drawn. Reckonability within the meaning of section 29 shall apply to the amount of superannuation benefits reduced pursuant to the second sentence of the present subsection.
Section 20
Amount of superannuation benefits
Superannuation benefits shall be calculated on the basis of Members’ monthly remuneration (section 11(1) of this Act). From 1 January 2008, the rate of increase shall be two and a half per cent of the Members’ remuneration specified in section 11(1) for each year of membership. The maximum rate at which superannuation benefits are payable shall be 67.5 per cent. Time spent in office as President and/or one of his or her deputies shall form the basis for the calculation of superannuation benefits pursuant to the first two sentences above, the supplementary allowance being added to the Members’ remuneration specified in section 11(1). The fourth sentence of section 18(1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis.
On the date of the first sitting of the 19th Bundestag, the following version of the third sentence of section 20 of this Act shall enter into force:
Section 20
Amount of superannuation benefits
Superannuation benefits shall be calculated on the basis of Members’ monthly remuneration (section 11(1) of this Act). From 1 January 2008, the rate of increase shall be two and a half per cent of the Members’ remuneration specified in section 11(1) for each year of membership. The maximum rate at which superannuation benefits are payable shall be 65 per cent. Time spent in office as President and/or one of his or her deputies shall form the basis for the calculation of superannuation benefits pursuant to the first two sentences above, the supplementary allowance being added to the Members’ remuneration specified in section 11(1). The fourth sentence of section 18(1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis.
Section 21
Reckonability of periods in other Parliaments
(1) On application, periods of service in the Parliament of a constituent state (Land) of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be regarded as periods of membership within the meaning of section 19 of this Act. If the conditions for entitlement under this Act are thereby fulfilled, superannuation benefits shall be paid.
(2) With regard to the amount of superannuation benefits, the provisions of section 20 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to each year of actual membership of the Bundestag.
(3) Subject to the submission of an application to the President of the Bundestag by 30 June 1996 (exclusion deadline), periods of membership of the People’s Chamber (Volkskammer) of the former German Democratic Republic from the date of acceptance of a mandate after the elections to the Volkskammer for its tenth legislative term until 2 October 1990 shall be regarded as periods of membership of the Bundestag. The fourth sentence of section 18(1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis. In the case of an application made under the first sentence above in which a period of membership of the Volkskammer is indicated, the application shall be processed retroactively as regards pension expectancy and entitlements accruing during that period of membership.
Section 22
Damage to health
(1) If a Member suffered damage to his or her health when serving in the Bundestag, except through his or her own gross negligence, and if the Member’s ability to work is thereby permanently and seriously impaired to the extent that that he or she can no longer fulfil his or her mandate or, on leaving the Bundestag, return to the occupation which he or she had before election to the Bundestag or engage in any other reasonable occupation, he or she shall, on application and irrespective of the conditions set out in section 19 of this Act, receive superannuation benefits with effect from the month in which the application is made; the amount of these benefits shall be calculated in accordance with section 20 but shall be no less than 30 per cent of the remuneration payable under section 11(1). If the damage to the Member’s health is the result of an accident, the assessment basis described in section 20 shall be increased by 20 per cent but shall not exceed the maximum rate for the payment of superannuation benefits.
(2) If a former Member of the Bundestag who, irrespective of age, fulfils the conditions under section 19 of this Act with regard to length of service suffers damage to health within the meaning of subsection (1) above, he or she shall receive superannuation benefits, the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with section 20.
(3) The damage to health must be substantiated by a report from a medical institution governed by public law. This report shall be superseded by a notice of award in respect of a pension for reduction of earning capacity, occupational disability or incapacity for employment or by a notice of invalidity as defined in civil-service law.
Section 23
Compensatory severance payment
(1) A Member who, on leaving the Bundestag, has acquired neither expectancy rights nor entitlement to superannuation benefits under sections 19 to 22 of this Act shall, on application, receive a compensatory severance payment for the period of his or her membership of the Bundestag. It shall be paid in respect of each month of membership of the Bundestag commenced and shall be equal in amount to the maximum contribution to the general pension scheme in each of the months in question plus twenty per cent of the said maximum contribution.
(2) Instead of the severance payment, Members who fulfil the conditions defined in subsection (1) above may also apply to buy in the period of their membership of the Bundestag in implementation, mutatis mutandis, of the provisions of the Sixth Book of the German Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch) relating to retroactive insurance.
(3) Subsection (2) above shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to supplementary retirement and surviving dependants’ pensions.
(4) Subsection (2) shall not apply if and in so far as the period of membership of the Bundestag has been accounted for or will be accounted for under an insurance scheme governed by public law or in a pension awarded on the basis of service regulations.
(5) Instead of the severance payment referred to in subsection (1) above, the period of membership of the Bundestag may, on application, be counted as a period of reckonable service within the meaning of the legislation governing the pay and pensions of civil servants, judges and members of the armed forces.
(6) If a Member has made an application under subsections (1) to (3) or subsection (5) above, the accumulation of the qualifying periods of membership specified in section 19 of this Act shall be resumed in the event of his or her re-entering the Bundestag.
(7) If a former Member dies without having made an application for a compensatory severance payment, his or her surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse, his or her natural or adopted children may make an application in accordance with subsection (1) above.
(8) Subsections (2) and (4) above shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to an outgoing Member of the Parliament of a Land if the legislation of the Land provides for a compensatory severance payment within the meaning of subsection (1) above.
(9) If a Member of a Land Parliament loses his or her membership but has no entitlement or accrued rights to a lump-sum payment or regular pension benefits in respect of his or her period of membership, subsections (2) and (4) above shall apply, mutatis mutandis.
Section 24
Transitional allowance for surviving dependants
(1) The surviving dependants of a Member of the Bundestag shall receive the payments provided for by this Act but not yet disbursed, on condition that they were due at the time of death. The surviving spouse, civil partner and offspring shall receive a transitional allowance equal to the amount of Members’ remuneration payable under section 11(1) of this Act. The transitional allowance shall amount to one and a half times the Members’ remuneration payable under section 11(1) in cases where the deceased was a Member for more than eight years or more than two electoral terms. If there are no surviving dependants within the meaning of the second sentence above, the transitional allowance shall be granted to other persons who bore the costs arising from the final illness, up to the amount of the expenditure they incurred. The amount of transitional allowance payable shall be reduced by 1,050 euros with effect from 31 March 2004).
(2) The same shall apply in the event of the death of a former Member of the Bundestag who fulfils the conditions relating to duration of membership under section 19 of this Act and was not yet receiving superannuation benefits at the time of death.
Section 25
Surviving dependants’ pension
(1) The surviving spouse or civil partner of a Member or former Member of the Bundestag shall receive sixty per cent of the appropriate superannuation benefits, provided the deceased was entitled to superannuation benefits at the time of death or fulfilled the conditions for the award of superannuation benefits.
(2) The surviving spouse or civil partner of a Member or former Member of the Bundestag, who, irrespective of age, fulfilled the conditions relating to duration of membership under section 19 of this Act shall receive sixty per cent of the superannuation benefits, the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with section 20.
(3) The natural and adopted children of a former Member who would have received superannuation benefits at the time of his or her death, or of a deceased Member or a deceased recipient of superannuation benefits, shall each receive an orphan’s pension. If the children are orphans, the pension shall amount to twenty per cent of the superannuation benefits referred to in subsections (1) and (2) above; if they still have one parent, the children shall receive an orphan’s pension amounting to twelve per cent of the said benefits.
(4) In the event of the death of a Member of the Bundestag who has belonged to the Bundestag for less than fourteen years, the surviving spouse shall receive sixty per cent, each orphan twenty per cent and each child with one surviving parent twelve per cent of the superannuation benefits payable to a Member with thirteen years’ reckonable service.
Section 25a
Pension-rights adjustment
(1) Expectancy rights for each benefit scheme shall be divided between spouses in the event of divorce.
(2) Implementation shall be governed by the Act concerning the Scheme-based Sharing of Entitlements in Civil-service Pensions Law Accruing to Federal Civil Servants under Statutory Adjustment of Pension Rights (Federal Statutory Pension-sharing Act – Bundesversorgungsteilungsgesetz), mutatis mutandis.
(3) The assessment of superannuation benefits shall be effected in accordance with section 39 of the Pension Rights Adjustment Act (Versorgungsausgleichgesetz).
Section 25b
Cost-saving measures with regard to pension entitlements
(1) In the conditions described in section 25 of this Act, the surviving spouse shall receive fifty-five per cent of the relevant superannuation benefits. This shall not apply in the case of couples married prior to 28 December 2004 if at least one of the spouses had reached his or her fortieth birthday on or before the date of marriage.
(2) In the case of persons with an entitlement under section 27(1) of this Act, benefits payable under sections 18, 19, 21, 22 and 25 shall be reduced by the half percentage point of annual income referred to in the first sentence of section 55(1) of the Eleventh Book of the Social Code or by the half percentage point of the income ceiling for the assessment of contributions to nursing-care insurance (section 55(2) of the Eleventh Book of the Social Code) referred to in the first sentence of section 55(1) of the Eleventh Book of the Social Code, whichever is the lesser.
(3) With effect from the first adjustment to Members’ remuneration under section 11(1) of this Act after 28 December 2004, the assessment rate used in the calculation of superannuation benefits accruing up to 31 December 2007 shall be reduced by half a percentage point for each year of membership up to and including the fourth adjustment.
(4) With effect from the first adjustment to the notional assessment figure for superannuation benefits under the third sentence of section 35a(2) of this Act, the assessment rate used pursuant to section 20 in the calculation of superannuation benefits payable under Parts Five and Nine of this Act as amended prior to 22 December 1995 shall be reduced by half a percentage point for each year of membership up to and including the eighth adjustment.
(5) For Members who belong to the Bundestag in the 16th and/or subsequent electoral terms, section 29(3) shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, to private earned income until they reach the age specified in section 19(1) or (2), as appropriate.
Section 26
Application of civil-service regulations
Without prejudice to any contrary provision contained in this Act, the provisions of pensions legislation relating to federal civil servants shall be applied, mutatis mutandis. Section 53(8) of the Civil Service Benefits Act (Beamtenversorgungsgesetz) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the concept of employment in the public service within the meaning of the present section.
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