Salary of Assistants in grade AST 1

Salary of Assistants in grade AST 1

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This article shows how much Assistants in grade AST 1 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 1 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 3058 to 3459. 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 1
Basic Pay3058305830583058
Household allowance02580258
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance00668668
Pension contribution-309-309-309-309
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-52-52-52-52
Accident insurance contribution-3-3-3-3
Tax-44-44-44-44
Special levy0000
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION
if employed in Brussels
2683379933513367
European Commission Assistants AST 1 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 Assistants AST1

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
AST 33 914,154 078,654 250,054 368,274 428,64
AST 23 459,473 604,833 756,323 860,833 914,15
AST 13 057,603 186,073 319,953 412,343 459,47
Basic salary scale for Assistants AST1 compared to AST2 and AST3. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on Assistants AST1 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Assistants AST 1 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 Pay EUR
Amsterdam, NetherlandsEMA111.43407
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.32945
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.43101
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.32945
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.92443
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB1003058
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.52095
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.12327
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.92963
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.24104
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.64085
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.92963
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.43407
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.63627
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.22605
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.92963
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.22514
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.42795
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.92596
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors1003058
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.32945
Munich, Germanyn/a113.43468
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.22789
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.93667
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.12694
Riga, LatviaBEREC802446
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.22911
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.71887
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.33985
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.32639
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.22605
Turin, ItalyETF91.22789
Valletta, MaltaEUAA942875
Varese, Italyn/a91.22789
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.93667
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.63352
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.32945
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.12449
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.62159
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.32394
Basic Pay of European Commission Assistants AST1, 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 1 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.

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