Salary of Assistants in grade AST 11

Salary of Assistants in grade AST 11

This article shows how much Assistants in grade AST 11 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 AST11 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 10512 to 11893. 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 AST11 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 11
Basic Pay10512105121051210512
Household allowance04070407
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance0018841884
Pension contribution-1062-1062-1062-1062
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-179-179-179-179
Accident insurance contribution-11-11-11-11
Tax-961-961-961-961
Special levy-277-277-277-277
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION
if employed in Brussels
80229287990611171
European Commission Assistants AST11 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 AST11

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
1110 511,8310 953,5411 413,8211 731,3811 893,46
109 290,719 681,1010 087,9410 368,5810 511,83
98 211,438 556,488 916,059 164,099 290,71
Basic salary scale for Assistants AST11 compared to AST9 and AST10. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on Assistants AST11 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Assistants AST 11 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, NetherlandsEMA111.411710
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.310123
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.410659
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.310123
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.98399
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB10010512
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.57201
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.18000
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.910186
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.214107
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.614044
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.910186
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.411710
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.612467
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.28956
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.910186
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.28641
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.49608
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.98925
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors10010512
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.310123
Munich, Germanyn/a113.411921
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.29587
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.912604
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.19261
Riga, LatviaBEREC808410
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.210007
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.76486
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.313697
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.39072
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.28956
Turin, ItalyETF91.29587
Valletta, MaltaEUAA949881
Varese, Italyn/a91.29587
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.912604
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.611521
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.310123
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.18420
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.67421
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.38231
Basic Pay of European Commission Assistants AST11, 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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