Salary of Assistants in grade AST 3

Salary of Assistants in grade AST 3

This article shows how much Assistants in grade AST 3 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 AST3 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 3914 to 4429. 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 3
Basic Pay3914391439143914
Household allowance02750275
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance00808808
Pension contribution-395-395-395-395
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-67-67-67-67
Accident insurance contribution-4-4-4-4
Tax-97-97-97-97
Special levy-8-8-8-8
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION
if employed in Brussels
3343447641515284
European Commission Assistants AST3 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 AST3

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
44 428,644 614,724 808,644 942,435 010,72
33 914,154 078,654 250,054 368,274 428,64
23 459,473 604,833 756,323 860,833 914,15
Basic salary scale for Assistants AST3 compared to AST2 and AST4. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on Assistants basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Assistants AST 3 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, NetherlandsEMA111.44360
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.33769
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.43969
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.33769
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.93127
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB1003914
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.52681
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.12979
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.93793
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.25253
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.65229
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.93793
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.44360
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.64642
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.23335
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.93793
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.23217
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.43577
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.93323
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors1003914
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.33769
Munich, Germanyn/a113.44438
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.23570
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.94693
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.13448
Riga, LatviaBEREC803131
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.23726
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.72415
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.35100
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.33378
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.23335
Turin, ItalyETF91.23570
Valletta, MaltaEUAA943679
Varese, Italyn/a91.23570
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.94693
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.64290
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.33769
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.13135
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.62763
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.33065
Basic Pay of European Commission Assistants AST3, 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.

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!

11 responses to “Salary of Assistants in grade AST 3”

  1. Hello everyone, a question is worrying me.
    I got an invitation for cast for public procurement.

    I saw somewhere that requirement is to “to have a bachelor related to this field”.

    AST3.

    Could you please give me more informations?

    Thank you!

  2. Hello, I am considered for a job at the Commission in Luxembourg as a TA. I have told that I was successful, but I have not been present the contract (which is in the workings). The VN says AST 1 to AST9, how does HR calculate the grade that it will be offered? Is there a rule? I am currently working for another EU AGency and I have 16 years of related work experience. Any ideas?
    Many thanks and have a nice day.
    Kind regards

    • Roberto, temporary agents are a bit of terra incognita for me. AST1-9 is quite a range.

      If this is an internal mobility scheme (allows staff to move more freely between EU institutions) vacancy, then you will keep the same grade as you have currently if you are an AST already.

      If this is not an internal mobility vacancy, then only the institutions’ HR can tell you what grade you’ll be offered.

      The length of work experience sometimes influences in which step you are place – step 1 or step 2 in the advertised grade. But this not a major issue as the salary difference is about 100-150 eur monthly.

  3. Hi All,
    I’m currently in the reservation list as permanent Official AST3.
    I do not now my destination, but I Would like to understand something more about these two topics:
    1. community tax in service: how much is for Official AST3
    2. Pension fee, after retirement: is it under community tax or any other tax? or is it totally net?
    Thank you

  4. Hello,

    I’m currently in the recruitment process for AST3 position in the EP. I would like to know if it would be possible to start at step 2, and what the conditions are (how much previous work experience is needed).

    Thank you for your help!

    • Marko, hi! I tried to look at more than 10 AST3 vacancy announcements, but, indeed, none of them list how many work experience years are required to be placed in step 2.
      This is a valid question that you can send to the institution to which you are applying (the address should be included in the vacancy announcement).

      That being said, difference between step 1 and 2 is not that big, around 100-150 euros, so it shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

  5. Hello I would like to ask a question regarding to Assistants AST3 positions benefits and allowances. It is not mentioned anywhere if they are entitled to a tax-free car and special licence plates for the cars that they drive. Also do they have exemptions of paying road taxes in the country which they live in?(Belgium) And the last question do they receive fuel allowances?

    • Hi! If you passed the recent AST3 exam, congratulations!

      Short answer – Assistants of all grades from AST1 to AST11 are entitled to the same benefits as Administrators AD5-AD16 and Contract Agents FGI-FGIV.

      Hence, they have the same tax benefits for car purchases as other EU institutions staff. I’m not certain about licence plates, you’d have to ask someone who currently works in Brussels.

      I have not heard about any special fuel allowances, nor exemptions from road taxes… I believe there are no such benefits. However, as you read in the article, you are paying no national taxes, which is a nice benefit.

  6. Hi,
    I would like to have a clarification regarding AST 3 salary for the scenario 3 “Single Italian national with no children”.
    the expatriation allowance is 16% of the basic salary so it means around 626.24 euro. Why do you put 808 euro?

    • Hi! I’ve indicated that these are approximate calculations from what I’ve gathered from the Staff Regulation and the various intitutions’ vacancy announcements. It’s possible that some of the numbers differ from what HR of your institution calculates based on your circumstances. However, in general the figures should give a good idea of the final take-home pay.

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