Contract Agents Function Group FG II salary

Contract Agents Function Group FG II salary

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The monthly ‘basic salary’ for Contract Agents in function group II (FG II) in the European Commission ranges from EUR 2211 for grade I step I to EUR 3624 for grade 7 step 7. The amount of basic salary depends on which grade (4-7) and step in each grade (1-7) the staff member finds herself in.

Basic salary

This article covers the topic of salary for Contract Agents in Function Group II (FGII) (‘agent contractuel’ in French) in the European Commission. The information about FGI salary also directly applies to staff of the European Parliament, European Council, EU agencies and all other EU institutions.

When being hired by EU institutions, new FGII staff usually start out in step 1 of grades 4 or 5, depending on the length of work experience. If your work experience is under 5 years, it’s grade 4 and EUR 2211 in initial basic salary. If your work experience is over 5 years, it’s grade 4 and EUR 2502 in initial basic salary.

Once hired, your pay increases every two years as you advance by one step through the salary scales. You salary can increase faster if you are reclassified to a higher step or even grade as a result of good performance in the annual ‘appraisal exercise’.

The highest indicated number of EUR 3624 is for FGII staff that would have spent over 40 years in EU institutions while still staying in function group II. However, you are almost certain to find a position in a different function group with higher pay in a few years once you are within the “EU system”, attain work experience and build your network.

GradeStepStarting basic salary
41EUR 2211
51EUR 2502
61EUR 2830
71EUR 3203
Contract agent function group II (FGII): basic salary according to grade and step in the European Commission salary scale

Complete remuneration package

Knowing the monthly ‘basic salary’ does not tell you much about your final take-home pay and the full remuneration package. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, the basic salary can make up anything between ~85% and 130%+ or more of your total remuneration package depending on whether you are entitled to the various allowances. This is especially so if you are an expat or/and have children.

Secondly, the country you are employed in has a significant impact on your total salary due to the European CommissionCorrection Coefficient‘. Brussels is used as reference, so if you work for EU institutions in Belgium, you get 100% of your salary and allowances. However, 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 gets due to what Eurostat considers are lower living costs. More on the impact of the Correction Coefficient below.

Contract agents’ remuneration by family and residence status

Below is a sample calculation of a FG II (grade 4, step 1) take-home pay with allowances for four common scenarios for a Contract Agent employed in Brussels, Belgium. If you are in a higher grade, you can do a rough estimate of your salary by adding the difference between basic pay in grade 4 and your actual grade.

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
Contract agent
FGII


Basic Pay EUR2211221122112211
Household allowance02410241
Dependent child allowance08580858
Expatriation allowance 16%00582582
Pension contribution 10.10%-223-223-223-223
Sickness insurance contribution-38-38-38-38
Accident insurance contribution-2-2-2-2
EU tax0000
Unemployment Insurance contribution-9-9-9-9
TOTAL REMUNERATION1939303825213620
Contract Agent FGII salary and allowances: full remuneration package

N.B. Please treat the above values only as indicative, because only your EU institution can do a precise calculation based on your individual circumstances and the full set of EU rules.

On top of the above, children would either be guaranteed a place in the European School, or a single Education Allowance per 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 Contract agents FGII

FGIIStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5Step 6Step 7
Grade 73202,523269,143337,123406,523477,403549,723623,54
Grade 62830,432889,282949,383010,733073,343137,273202,52
Grade 52501,542553,562606,682660,912716,242772,742830,43
Grade 42210,882256,872303,822351,742400,642450,582501,54
Complete basic salary scale for European Commission Contract Agents FGII. Source: Staff Regulations Article 93

Impact of Correction Coefficient on FGII basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Contract Agent FGII basic pay according to the location of your institution. You can read a dedicated article about the Correction Coefficient.

Location
of EU
institution
Correction
Coefficient
Actual
Basic Pay
(EUR)
Amsterdam111.42463
Athina85.21884
Berlin101.42242
Bratislava79.91767
Brussels1002211
Bucuresti68.51515
Budapest76.11683
Dublin133.62954
Helsinki118.62622
Karlsruhe96.92142
København134.22967
Lefkosia82.21817
Lisboa91.42021
Ljubljana84.91877
Luxembourg1002211
Madrid96.32129
München113.42507
Paris119.92651
Praha88.11948
Riga801769
Roma95.22105
Sofia61.71364
Stockholm130.32881
Tallinn86.31908
Valletta942078
Varese91.22016
Vilnius80.11771
Warszawa70.61561
Wien109.62423
Zagreb78.31731
Basic Pay of European Commission Contract Agents in Function Group II (FGII) 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.

Function Groups and corresponding types of duties

The below table presents an overview of what kind of tasks each function group of contract agents is expected to carry out. Note the wording “under the supervision of officials or temporary staff”. In practice, the situation most often is different. Very often there is little difference between the tasks FG III and FG IV carry out, it’s a little bit of a lottery in which function group your position happens to fall. Also, once you start working in these two grades, you might soon notice that the tasks you carry out differ little from what temporary agents AD5 and AD6 perform. The main reason for this situation is the aftermath of the 2008-9 economic crisis when EU Member States exerted pressure on the European Commission to decrease costs. Someone came up with the “clever” solution to administratively “devolve” many positions and tasks from AD to CA positions, without much change to the substance of the tasks performed.

Function groupGradesDuties
IV13 to 18Administrative, advisory, linguistic and equivalent technical tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff.
III8 to 12Executive tasks, drafting, accountancy and other equivalent technical tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff.
II4 to 7Clerical and secretarial tasks, office management and other equivalent tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff.
I1 to 3Manual and administrative support service tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff.
Contract Agent Function Groups and corresponding types of duties | Source: Staff Regulations

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.

This article is based on the European Commission Staff Regulations and other publicly available information such as EU institutions’ vacancy announcements.

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