Salary of Assistants in grade AST 6

Salary of Assistants in grade AST 6

This article shows how much Assistants in grade AST 6 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 AST6 in the European Commission and other EU institutions ranges from EUR 5669 to 6414. 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 AST6 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 6
Basic Pay5669566956695669
Household allowance03100310
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance0010941094
Pension contribution-573-573-573-573
Health insurance contribution (JSIS coverage)-96-96-96-96
Accident insurance contribution-6-6-6-6
Tax-216-216-216-216
Special levy-89-89-89-89
Correction coefficient100%100%100%100%
TOTAL REMUNERATION
if employed in Brussels
4689585757836951
European Commission Assistants AST6 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 AST6

GradeStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5
76 414,446 683,996 964,857 158,637 257,53
65 669,295 907,536 155,766 327,036 414,44
55 010,725 221,275 440,675 592,055 669,29
Basic salary scale for Assistants AST6 compared to AST5 and AST7. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66

Impact of Correction Coefficient on Assistants AST6 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Assistants AST 6 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, NetherlandsEMA111.46315
Barcelona, SpainF4E96.35459
Berlin, GermanyEU Delegation101.45748
Bilbao, SpainEU-OSHA96.35459
Bratislava, SlovakiaELA79.94530
Brussels, BelgiumEuropean Commission, European Parliament, European Council, EDA, SRB1005669
Bucharest, RomaniaECITRCC68.53883
Budapest, HungaryCEPOL, EIT76.14314
Cologne, GermanyEASA96.95493
Copenhagen, DenmarkEEA134.27608
Dublin, IrelandEUROFOUND133.67574
Frankfurt am Main, GermanyECB, EIOPA96.95493
Hague, NetherlandsEurojust, Europol111.46315
Helsinki, FinlandECHA118.66723
Heraklion, GreeceENISA85.24830
Karlsruhe, GermanyJRC96.95493
Lefkosia, CyprusEU Delegation82.24660
Lisbon, PortugalEMSA, EMCDDA91.45181
Ljubljana, SloveniaACER84.94813
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgEuropean Commission, Eurostat, CDT, Court of Auditors1005669
Madrid, SpainEU Delegation96.35459
Munich, Germanyn/a113.46429
Parma, ItalyEFSA91.25170
Paris, FranceEBA, ESMA119.96797
Prague, CzechiaEGSA88.14994
Riga, LatviaBEREC804535
Rome, ItalyEU Delegation95.25397
Sofia, BulgariaEU Delegation61.73498
Stockholm, SwedenECDC130.37387
Tallinn, Estoniaeu-LISA86.34892
Thessaloniki, GreeceCEDEFOP85.24830
Turin, ItalyETF91.25170
Valletta, MaltaEUAA945329
Varese, Italyn/a91.25170
Valenciennes and Lille, FranceERA119.96797
Vienna, AustriaFRA109.66213
Vigo, SpainEFCA96.35459
Vilnius, LithuaniaEIGE80.14541
Warsaw, PolandFrontex70.64002
Zagreb, CroatiaEU Delegation78.34439
Basic Pay of European Commission Assistants AST6, 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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