Salary of Assistants in grade AST 4

Salary of Assistants in grade AST 4

This article shows how much Assistants in grade AST 4 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 assistants AST 4 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 4429 to 5011. 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.

Assistants’ remuneration by family and residence status

Below is a sample salary and take-home pay calculation of an Assistant in grade AST5 step 1 for four common scenarios in Brussels, Belgium.

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
Assistants AST 4
Basic Pay4429442944294429
Household allowance02910291
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance00891891
Pension contribution-447-447-447-447
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-75-75-75-75
Accident insurance contribution-4-4-4-4
Tax-129-129-129-129
Special levy-33-33-33-33
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION
if employed in Brussels
3741488446325775
European Commission Assistants AST 4 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 Assistants AST4

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
AST 55 010,725 221,275 440,675 592,055 669,29
AST 44 428,644 614,724 808,644 942,435 010,72
AST 33 914,154 078,654 250,054 368,274 428,64
Basic salary scale for Assistants AST4 compared to AST3 and AST5. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on Assistants AST4 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Assistants AST 4 basic pay according to the location of your institution. You should also read a dedicated article about the Correction Coefficient to understand the details.

LocationEU institutionCorrection CoefficientAdjusted Basic Pay EUR
Amsterdam, NetherlandsEMA111.44934
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.34265
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.44491
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.34265
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.93539
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB1004429
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.53034
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.13370
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.94292
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.25944
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.65917
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.94292
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.44934
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.65253
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.23774
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.94292
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.23641
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.44048
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.93760
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors1004429
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.34265
Munich, Germanyn/a113.45022
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.24039
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.95310
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.13902
Riga, LatviaBEREC803543
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.24216
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.72733
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.35771
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.33822
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.23774
Turin, ItalyETF91.24039
Valletta, MaltaEUAA944163
Varese, Italyn/a91.24039
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.95310
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.64854
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.34265
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.13548
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.63127
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.33468
Basic Pay of European Commission Assistants AST4, adjusted by the 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 “scenarios table” to get the actual approximate figure.

Required work experience

For assistants grades AST1, AST2, AST3, and AST4 are considered ‘entry grades’. Each assistants’ grade requires the following work experience length:

  • AST1 requires 0 years of previous professional experience.
  • AST2 requires 3 years of previous professional experience.
  • AST3 requires 6 years of previous professional experience.
  • AST4 requires 9 years of previous professional experience.

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 Assistants AST 4 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!

2 responses to “Salary of Assistants in grade AST 4”

  1. Can you please post the requirements in terms of years of experience for AST 4 step 1? I’m trying to find a table for the different grades and requirements but either it doesn’t exist or it’s well hidden 🙂

    • This is always listed in the vacancy announcement under eligibility or selection criteria. It’s also covered in this article: https://euemployment.eu/how-much-do-eu-officials-earn/

      For assistants grades AST1, AST2, AST3, and AST4 are considered ‘entry grades’. Each assistants’ grade requires the following work experience length:

      AST1 requires 0 years of previous professional experience.
      AST2 requires 3 years of previous professional experience.
      AST3 requires 6 years of previous professional experience.
      AST4 requires 9 years of previous professional experience.

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