LA Issues — Part 3 : Your Savings

Maja Vuckovic-Krcmar, Sumeet Thakkar, Sunil Kumar, Mahbuba Abdulloeva, Lejla Sultanovic, Aminata Ongoiba, Helen Conefrey

Your Provident Fund: over €124 million in investments and buffers

Now is the time to strengthen your collective and individual rights!

This is the third in a series of USHU newsletters on Local Agent issues. Part 1 (April) covered the salary methodology and arrears, Part 2 covered the job matching and the comparators issue. This edition focuses on the LA Provident Fund.

Your provident fund: €112 million and growing

The Local Agent Provident Fund (LAPF) now holds over €112 million in investments, managed by DG BUDG under a conservative mandate focused on high-quality sovereign bonds with low risk. An additional €12 million sits in a liquidity buffer for short-term payouts when colleagues leave, a total of €124 million. Total LAPF assets were €105.7 million on 31/12/2023, and were €114.5 million on 31/12/2024.

The fund delivered three consecutive years of positive returns: approximately 3.67% in 2023, 3.52% in 2024, and 2.62% in 2025. The current yield-to-maturity is approximately 2.5%. Monthly contributions flowing in amount to roughly €1 million, while outflows to departing members average €600,000. These are encouraging figures. But the rules governing your fund have not kept pace with reality.

The problem: your money, their rules

Under the current legal Decision, Local Agents cannot access their provident fund until their contract ends — not even in a medical emergency, not even to cover a child’s education, not even if a family member dies.

A small number of colleagues who left in 2022 — a year of negative returns — received even less than the total amount that had been contributed on their behalf. There is no guarantee that this will not happen again.

Also, when your contract does end, the PF settlement can take anything from five to nine months and no interest is paid on any delay.

What USHU secured

Contribution guarantee: the EEAS administration formally confirmed there is no mechanism ensuring you never receive less than what was paid in is a priority item for the 2027 social dialogue. This requires opening the legal decision —USHU has requested the decision to be opened to negotiate a protection clause for LAs.

Early and emergency withdrawal:  Local Agents, through the LA PF Survey, demonstrated strong support (over 70% of respondents) for early and emergency withdrawals from the PF. Indeed the case of colleague who passed away within one year of contract termination who did not receive his PF payment, highlights the need for a more agile system. USHU will negotiate to secure the possibility for partial withdrawals before retirement or redundancy.

HR Hub self-service module: a new online tool will go live by end of April 2026, letting you download your individual LAPF statement at any time. You will see exactly what you and your employer contributed and what returns your fund has earned — positive or negative.

Governance reform: over 85% of the latest LAPF survey respondents want a change in how the fund is governed. USHU is pushing for a co-decision model that gives staff representatives a real seat at the table, not just an advisory role.

USHU Fights for the rights of all Staff Categories and prides itself on knowing your needs well after more than 15 years at the service of EU DEL colleagues.

Join USHU and join a knowledgeable organisation that achieves results on your behalf.

Join us now : https://www.ushu.eu/membership