What is the salary of Administrators AD 5?

What is the salary of Administrators AD 5?

This article shows how much Administrators in grade AD5 step 1 can expect to earn in the European Commission. The information directly applies also to the European Parliament, European Council, EU agencies and all other EU institutions. The article presents the full remuneration package: not only the basic salary, but also allowances and other benefits. It also shows the impact of location and the Correction Coefficient on your take-home pay.

Basic salary vs. full remuneration package

The monthly ‘basic salary’ for Administrators AD5 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 5011 to 5669. The starting basic salary will always be the lower number, but you can get ‘reclassified’ or get promoted.

Reclassification‘ is the automatic advancement through the European Commission salary scales by one step every two years (see table below to assess the financial impact on your basic salary). ‘Promotion‘ based on good professional performance in the EU context means that you not only get a good evaluation in the annual ‘appraisal’ process, but are also made to skip several salary scale steps or even a grade at once. Promotion has the most significant impact on your income, if you remain in the same job.

At the same time, knowing your ‘basic salary’ in most cases does not tell you much about your final take-home pay. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, the basic salary in most cases constitutes between 50-100% of your total remuneration package depending on whether you entitled to the various allowances. This is especially so if you have children, a spouse or/and are an expat.

Secondly, the country you are employed in has a significant impact on your total salary due to the ‘Correction Coefficient‘. Brussels is used as reference and there the Correction Coefficient is 100% of basic salary as quoted below. If you work for an EU agency in Scandinavia, your salary and allowances will upped by 18-31% to compensate for higher living costs. Conversely, if you will work for the EU in Bulgaria, you will get only 55% of what your Brussels colleague doing the same job gets.

Administrators’ remuneration by family and residence status

Below is a sample salary and take-home pay approximation of an Administrator in grade AD5 step 1 who is living in Brussels, Belgium, with four typical personal/family situations.

Situation 1Situation 2Situation 3Situation 4
Single Belgian national with no childrenMarried Belgian national with two childrenSingle Italian national with no childrenMarried Italian national with two children
Administrator AD5 salary EUR
Basic Pay5011501150115011
Household allowance02960296
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance00987987
Pension contribution-506-506-506-506
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-85-85-85-85
Accident insurance contribution-5-5-5-5
Tax-166-166-166-166
Special levy-59-59-59-59
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION4190534451776331
European Commission Administrators AD5 step 1 salary and allowances: full remuneration package calculation (2022)

N.B. These calculations are only indicative as they are based on public sources. Only your institution’s HR department will be able to calculate a 100% accurate figure once you provide all necessary documents.

On top of the above, any children would either be guaranteed a place in the local European School, or an Education Allowance for each child. The expat family would also get around 1000 EUR annually per family member as a Travel Grant considering the distance to Rome.

European Commission 2022 salary scale for Administrators AD5

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
76 414,446 683,996 964,857 158,637 257,53
65 669,295 907,536 155,766 327,036 414,44
55 010,725 221,275 440,675 592,055 669,29
Basic salary scale for Administrators AD5 compared to AD6 and AD7. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on AD5 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Administrators AD5 basic pay according to the correction coefficient by location of your institution. You should also read a dedicated article about the Correction Coefficient to understand the details.

LocationEU institutionCorrection CoefficientAdjusted basic salary EUR
Amsterdam, NetherlandsEMA111.45582
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.34826
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.45081
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.34826
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.94004
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB1005011
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.53433
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.13813
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.94856
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.26725
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.66695
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.94856
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.45582
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.65943
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.24269
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.94856
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.24119
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.44580
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.94254
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors1005011
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.34826
Munich, Germanyn/a113.45682
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.24570
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.96008
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.14415
Riga, LatviaBEREC804009
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.24770
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.73092
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.36529
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.34324
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.24269
Turin, ItalyETF91.24570
Valletta, MaltaEUAA944710
Varese, Italyn/a91.24570
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.96008
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.65492
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.34826
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.14014
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.63538
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.33924
Basic Pay of Administrators AD5, adjusted by the European Commission Correction Coefficient

Take into account that your allowances will also be adjusted by the Correction Coefficient. If you will work not in Brussels, but in another EU location, you should multiply the grand total values in the “four personal/samily situations table” to get the approximate actual figure.

Allowances and other benefits for EU institutions staff

Several allowances and other benefits can quite significantly boost an EU official’s income. This largely depends on whether the person is an expat and has a spouse and/or children. When considering a job at an EU institution, people too often do not take these benefits into account. Important – these benefits are available to Administrators in grades AD 5-16, Assistants in grades AST 1-11, Secretaries and Clerks in grades AST/SC 1-6, and Contract Agents in grades FG I-IV.

Visuals for social sharing

European Commission Administrators AD5 step 1 salary and allowances: full remuneration package calculation (2022)

Sources

This article is based on the European Commission Staff Regulations and other publicly available information such as EU institutions’ vacancy announcements. As the EU legal documents and even information on the various websites is hard to understand, this article is one from a series that tries to make information about employment in the European Commission and other EU institutions more accessible.

Do you have question or suggestion for this article? Please share in a comment below and let’s make this resource better for you and other readers!

18 responses to “What is the salary of Administrators AD 5?”

  1. Hello, I have a question about other add-ons. Do EC officials also receive commemorative bonuses e.g. related to holidays or festivities or the outcome of the completion of an important project as an incentive allowance?

  2. Hello all,

    I have two questions: one related to salary and one related to internal competitions.

    I have been offered a position as temporary Staff. The percentages of the deductions from the salary provided in the offer and Staff Regulations are higher than on the calculations on this website.

    For example: according to the contract offer and staff regulations there is a 6% solidarity levy and at least 8% tax.

    In the case of calculation for AD6 on this website, TAX and solidarity levy are €216 and €89 respectively. Which corresponds to 216/5,669 (basic pay) = 3.8% and 89/5,669 = 1.6%. A lot less than the 8% and 6% in staff regulations and the contract offer.
    Are the (optimistic) numbers on this website incorrect, or am I missing something?

    Second question: as a temporary agent (3 year contract), do you have access to internal competitions, in other words, is there a possibility to obtain a permanent contract?

    Thank you!

  3. What I find otrageous is that they pay 5100 net to 50 jpp per year who have never passed any competition and get 3 years contract as AD5 thanks to their connections and socioeconomic status. The jpp also have access to exclusive internal competition excluding much more qualified and talented contract agents (7000+CAST).

    • Life’s not fair. I wish I would have known about the Junior Professionals Programme before I became too old to qualify.

  4. Hi. may you know what are the usual timetable for an ‘office based’ AD role at Brussels and if they have any policy for teleworking in place?

  5. Hi, I was wondering about the procedure for advancement to higher AD grades (e.g. in the Commission) – is it through promotion, or internal competitions? Or both? Is there a difference?

    Many thanks!

    • Yes, there’s a difference. Through internal competitions you usually get the grade that’s advertised for the post.
      However, if it’s an “internal mobility” post, then you get the job, but keep your current grade.

      Through promotion you are usually allowed to “skip” one grade, not more. If you win a competition, you can theoretically jump from FG positions to AD positions or from AD5 to AD7.

  6. Hi All,

    I am an established official in grade SC II (Secretaries/Clerks)
    I have a question: can I participate in the internal AD competitions and become Administrator or in purpose to pass from SC to AD I have first to win an external(available for all EU citizens) EPSO AD Competition and only then being placed to reserve list look for AD positions?

  7. Hi Ben,

    Thanks for the article and Q&A, great work!

    On the promotions – it this genuinely based on good performance only? Or do they have additional requirements e.g. need to have been in the role for at least x years etc.

    Cheers,
    Michiel

    • Hi! My experience is that it directly depends on your immediate superior and manager one more level up. Of course, the decision to “reclasify” is often takend by the head of the institution, but this is a formal decision as the input has to come from someone who recommends staff fro promotion.

  8. I have been looking for the tax scales applied on EU salaries but haven’t been able to find any details on this (other than statements that it is between 8 and 45%). Any idea where to find the detail?

    Thanks!

  9. Hi,

    Thanks for this very thorough explanation. However, I have a question regarding the calculation of the net salary for a single belgian citizen. The numbers don’t really match the % of taxes in each field, and the EU salary calculator gives a net salary of 3600 EUR. Is there a reason for a higher amount in your calculations? Maybe there has been changes since? Thanks a lot for your reply.
    Best,
    Jaf

  10. Hello! First of all, thank you so much for the job you are doing in this blog.

    I would like to know about the schedule of the employers (level AD5) in the different institutions and if it is a job in which you can enjoy of a good family conciliation.

    Thank you so much.

    • Hi! Generally, AD5 is an entry level position, the first grade for officials, where one would usually be supervised by someone else with grade AD7 or higher. However, due to the “squeeze” by member states after the 2008-9 financial crisis, it is still common that AD5 would actually be assigned more responsibility than historically was the case.

      So, in general, as AD5 are usually not managers, you can expect good work and private life balance but that depends on individual institution and the unit/department you land in with. As an example, if you are currently dealing with anything Belarus-related, don’t expect a calm life.

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