What is the salary of Administrators AD 15?

What is the salary of Administrators AD 15?

This article shows how much Administrators in grade AD15 step 1 can expect to earn in the European Commission. AD15 is the second highest grade in EU salary scales and along with AD 16 applies to Directors-General and Deputy Directors-General of DGs, so maybe a group of around 100 or so people.

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 AD15 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 17227 to EUR 19491. 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 is supplemented by a number 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 AD15 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
Administrators AD15 salary EUR
Basic Pay17227172271722717227
Household allowance05550555
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance0031003100
Pension contribution-1813-1813-1813-1813
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-305-305-305-305
Accident insurance contribution-15-15-15-15
Tax-3430-3430-3430-3430
Special levy-515-515-515-515
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION
if employed in Brussels
11149125621424915662
European Commission Administrators AD15 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.

Managerial titleGrade
Director-GeneralAD 15AD 16
DirectorAD 14AD 15
Adviser or equivalentAD 13- AD 14
Head of unit or equivalentAD 9AD 14
Administrators’ grades corresponding to posts with managerial duties | Staff Regulations, Annex 1

Officials in grades AD9 to AD16 are often Heads of Units, Directors of Divisions or higher level managers like Directors-General and their deputies. Officials with managerial duties are entitled to the Managerial Allowance which is around EUR 650 for Administrators AD15.

European Commission 2022 salary scale for Administrators AD15

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
1619 490,7120 309,7421 163,17 – –
1517 226,5317 950,4218 704,7119 225,1119 490,71
1415 225,3515 865,1616 531,8316 991,7717 226,53
Basic salary scale for Administrators AD15 compared to AD14 and AD16. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on Administrators AD15 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Administrators AD15 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 CoefficientAdjust Basic Pay EUR
Amsterdam, NetherlandsEMA111.419191
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.316590
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.417468
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.316590
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.913764
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB10017227
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.511800
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.113110
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.916693
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.223119
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.623015
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.916693
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.419191
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.620431
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.214677
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.916693
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.214161
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.415745
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.914626
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors10017227
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.316590
Munich, Germanyn/a113.419535
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.215711
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.920655
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.115177
Riga, LatviaBEREC8013782
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.216400
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.710629
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.322447
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.314867
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.214677
Turin, ItalyETF91.215711
Valletta, MaltaEUAA9416193
Varese, Italyn/a91.215711
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.920655
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.618881
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.316590
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.113799
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.612162
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.313489
Basic Pay of European Commission Administrators AD15, 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.

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.

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.

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