Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Payment of Pension Levies for Past Periods Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and shall come into operation on 31st December 2015.

Requirement to pay pension levies in respect of past periods

2.  So far as relating to the requirement to pay pension levy, the 2005 Order, and regulations made under it, shall have effect as if the amendments made by the 2010 regulations had always had effect.

Interest

3.-(1) This regulation applies to any amount of pension levy which becomes payable as a consequence of the coming into operation of regulation 2.

(2) Any amount to which this regulation applies carries interest for the period beginning with the date on which that amount would have become due if the amendments made by the 2010 regulations had always had effect ("interest start date") and ending on the date on which payment of that amount is made.

(3) Interest to be added to any amount to which this regulation applies shall be compound interest calculated at the rates specified in paragraphs (4) to (7) with yearly rests.

(4) The rate of interest to be applied for the period beginning with the interest start date for the first year is that set out in column (c) of the Table next to the period as set out in columns (a) and (b) within which the interest start date falls.

(5) On each anniversary of the interest start date, where any anniversary of the interest start date falls on or before 30th November 2015, the rate of interest to be applied for the year from that anniversary date is that set out in column (c) of the Table next to the period as set out in columns (a) and (b) within which the anniversary date falls.

(6) Where any anniversary of the interest start date falls after 30th November 2015, the interest rate to be applied during the year from that anniversary date is the EU recovery interest rate.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (6), "EU recovery interest rate" means the rate referred to in Article 9 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 794/2004(2).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement, in respect of payments of pension levies under the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/255 (N.I. 1) and regulations made under it, in respect of periods before the coming into operation of the Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (S.R. 2010 No. 32) and the Occupational Pension Schemes (Levies) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (S.R. 2010 No. 249), the Decision of the European Commission 55/2007/EC of 11th February 2009 (O.J. No. L242, 15.9.09, p.21) that the exemption from the payment of a levy to the Pension Protection Fund corresponding to the pension liabilities covered by a Crown guarantee constitutes State aid that is incompatible with the common market within the meaning of Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Regulation 2 modifies the effect of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 and regulations made under it so that the requirement to pay pension levies applies as if the amendments made by regulations 2, 3 and 8 of the Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 and regulation 2 of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Levies) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 had always had effect including in respect of past periods before the coming into operation of those regulations.

Regulation 3 provides for interest to be calculated in accordance with Article 2 of the Decision of the European Commission 55/2007/EC which requires any interest to be recovered as a result of unlawful State aid to be calculated pursuant to Chapter V of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 794/2004 of 21st April 2004. Commission Regulation (EC) No. 794/2004 implements Council Regulation (EC) No. 659/1999 (O.J. No. L83, 27.3.99, p.1) which provides that State aid to be recovered shall include interest at a rate fixed by the European Commission. Commission Regulation (EC) No. 794/2004 provides for the method for fixing the interest rate, provides for publication of the rate and specifies in Article 11 that interest shall be applied on a compound basis, added at yearly intervals. The base rates are calculated in accordance with the Communication from the European Commission on the revision of the method for setting the reference and discount dated 19th January 2008 (O.J. No. C14, 19.1.08, p.6).

The Pensions (2015 Act) (Commencement No. 1) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015 No. 307 (C. 25)) provides for the coming into operation of section 44 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, one of the enabling provisions under which these Regulations are made, on 16th July 2015.