EU Salary Grid 2026: Official Basic Salaries by Grade (AD, AST, FG)

Every euro figure below comes from the Official Journal of the EU (C/2025/6564): the 2025 annual update raised the whole grid by 3.0% with effect from 1 July 2025, and this is the grid in force in 2026. These are basic monthly salaries before allowances (which add) and deductions (which subtract) — a worked net example follows the tables.

Administrators (AD5–AD16)

This is the grid for policy officers, lawyers, economists and managers — the track most EPSO competitions (including the annual AD5 generalist competition) recruit for. You move up one step automatically every two years; promotion to the next grade is merit-based.

| Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | AD5 | €6,152.64 | €6,411.17 | €6,680.58 | €6,866.46 | €6,961.29 | | AD6 | €6,961.29 | €7,253.84 | €7,558.62 | €7,768.94 | €7,876.27 | | AD7 | €7,876.27 | €8,207.25 | €8,552.11 | €8,790.06 | €8,911.48 | | AD8 | €8,911.48 | €9,285.95 | €9,676.16 | €9,945.37 | €10,082.77 | | AD9 | €10,082.77 | €10,506.46 | €10,947.98 | €11,252.54 | €11,408.03 | | AD10 | €11,408.03 | €11,887.38 | €12,386.92 | €12,731.53 | €12,907.41 | | AD11 | €12,907.41 | €13,449.79 | €14,014.97 | €14,404.91 | €14,603.92 | | AD12 | €14,603.92 | €15,217.59 | €15,857.08 | €16,298.23 | €16,523.41 | | AD13 | €16,523.41 | €17,217.74 | €17,941.22 | €18,440.42 | €18,695.13 | | AD14 | €18,695.13 | €19,480.76 | €20,299.36 | €20,864.11 | €21,152.38 | | AD15 | €21,152.38 | €22,041.25 | €22,967.41 | €23,606.42 | €23,932.55 | | AD16 | €23,932.55 | €24,938.24 | €25,986.17 | — | — |

New AD5 laureates start at step 1: €6,152.64 per month. A director (AD14–AD15) earns three times that.

Assistants (AST and AST/SC)

The AST track covers administrative support roles; AST/SC covers secretaries and clerks. Note that AST5 pays exactly the same as AD5 — the difference is the career ceiling, not the entry pay.

| Grade | Step 1 | Step 5 | |---|---|---| | AST1 | €3,754.39 | €4,247.86 | | AST2 | €4,247.86 | €4,806.17 | | AST3 | €4,806.17 | €5,437.91 | | AST4 | €5,437.91 | €6,152.64 | | AST5 | €6,152.64 | €6,961.29 | | AST6 | €6,961.29 | €7,876.27 | | AST7 | €7,876.27 | €8,911.48 | | AST8 | €8,911.48 | €10,082.77 | | AST9 | €10,082.77 | €11,408.03 | | AST10 | €11,408.03 | €12,907.41 | | AST11 | €12,907.41 | €14,603.92 | | AST/SC1 | €3,291.94 | €3,724.60 | | AST/SC6 | €6,103.81 | €6,906.06 |

Contract agents (CAST, FG I–IV)

Contract agents are recruited through the permanently open CAST selection rather than a competition reserve list. Pay depends on the function group:

| Function group | Entry grade (step 1) | Top grade (step 7) | Typical profile | |---|---|---|---| | FG IV | €4,449.31 (gr. 13) | €9,334.57 (gr. 18) | Policy/project officers (degree) | | FG III | €3,475.62 (gr. 8) | €6,444.44 (gr. 12) | Administrative assistants | | FG II | €2,714.73 (gr. 4) | €4,449.31 (gr. 7) | Secretarial, clerical | | FG I | €2,613.72 (gr. 1) | €3,783.03 (gr. 3) | Support tasks |

What gets added: allowances

• Expatriation allowance — 16% of basic salary (minimum €714.89/month) if you moved country to take the job. Worth ≈€984/month for an AD5.
• Household allowance — €241.21 + 2% of basic salary if you are married or have dependants.
• Dependent child allowance — €527.06/month per child, plus education allowances.
• Installation allowance and daily subsistence when taking up duties.

What comes off: deductions

• Pension contribution: 10.1% of basic salary. In return you accrue pension rights of 1.8% of final salary per year of service.
• Health insurance (JSIS): 1.7% — covers roughly 80–85% of medical costs worldwide.
• EU community tax: progressive from 8% to 45%, but with a low effective rate — an AD5 pays roughly 10–12%. EU salaries are exempt from national income tax.
• Solidarity levy: 6% (7% from grade AD15, step 2).

A real example: AD5 net pay in Brussels

| AD5 step 1, single, expat in Brussels | €/month | |---|---| | Basic salary | 6,152.64 | | Expatriation allowance (16%) | +984.42 | | Pension contribution (10.1%) | −621.42 | | Health + accident insurance (~1.8%) | −110.75 | | EU tax + solidarity levy (estimate) | −800 | | Net take-home (estimate) | ≈ 5,600 |

This is an estimate for illustration — the exact figure depends on personal circumstances. With the household allowance and one child, net pay rises to roughly €6,500/month.

How the salary grows from here

Three mechanisms compound over a career. The automatic step every two years is worth about +4%. The annual adjustment tracks inflation and national civil service pay (+3.0% in the latest update). And promotion to the next grade — typically every 3–4 years early on — is worth 13% or more. An AD5 who performs well can realistically reach AD8 (€8,911+ basic) within a decade.

The part nobody tells you

The salary is fixed by regulation — identical in every institution, non-negotiable, published in the Official Journal. What is not fixed is who gets the job. The AD5 2026 competition attracted 174,922 applicants for 1,490 places: less than 1% make the reserve list, and the computer-based reasoning tests are where the field is cut. The salary takes care of itself; the tests do not.