How much does an EU AD5 official actually earn?
A newly recruited AD5 official starts at grade AD 5, step 1, on a basic gross salary of €6,152.64 per month under Article 66 of the Staff Regulations (table in force since 1 July 2025). After the expatriation allowance is added and the 13.1 % pension contribution, sickness and accident cover and European tax are withheld, a single official posted in Brussels takes home €5,615–€5,721 a month.
Last updated 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page links to its official source.
The first number is the basic gross salary — the amount Article 66 of the Staff Regulations sets for a grade and a step, before anything is added to it or taken off it. It is not what lands in a bank account, and the gap is not small. Below is the official table for the whole AD range, then the whole walk from that table to a payslip: every allowance that is added and every deduction that is taken off, with the rate and the article it comes from, and a worked example that carries the arithmetic all the way to a net figure.
The Article 66 table, AD 1 to AD 16
Basic monthly gross salaries in euro, by grade and step. These are the amounts set by the 2025 annual update published in the Official Journal on 11 December 2025, and they have applied since 1 July 2025. They are the amounts in force today. AD 5 is the recruitment grade for the AD5 graduates competition and AD 7 for the Audit and ICT competitions; step 1 is the first step of a grade.
| Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD 16 | 23,932.55 | 24,938.24 | 25,986.17 | ||
| AD 15 | 21,152.38 | 22,041.25 | 22,967.41 | 23,606.42 | 23,932.55 |
| AD 14 | 18,695.13 | 19,480.76 | 20,299.36 | 20,864.11 | 21,152.38 |
| AD 13 | 16,523.41 | 17,217.74 | 17,941.22 | 18,440.42 | 18,695.13 |
| AD 12 | 14,603.92 | 15,217.59 | 15,857.08 | 16,298.23 | 16,523.41 |
| AD 11 | 12,907.41 | 13,449.79 | 14,014.97 | 14,404.91 | 14,603.92 |
| AD 10 | 11,408.03 | 11,887.38 | 12,386.92 | 12,731.53 | 12,907.41 |
| AD 9 | 10,082.77 | 10,506.46 | 10,947.98 | 11,252.54 | 11,408.03 |
| AD 8 | 8,911.48 | 9,285.95 | 9,676.16 | 9,945.37 | 10,082.77 |
| AD 7 | 7,876.27 | 8,207.25 | 8,552.11 | 8,790.06 | 8,911.48 |
| AD 6 | 6,961.29 | 7,253.84 | 7,558.62 | 7,768.94 | 7,876.27 |
| AD 5 | 6,152.64 | 6,411.17 | 6,680.58 | 6,866.46 | 6,961.29 |
| AD 4 | 5,437.91 | 5,666.40 | 5,904.51 | 6,068.80 | 6,152.64 |
| AD 3 | 4,806.17 | 5,008.16 | 5,218.60 | 5,363.78 | 5,437.91 |
| AD 2 | 4,247.86 | 4,426.36 | 4,612.36 | 4,740.70 | 4,806.17 |
| AD 1 | 3,754.39 | 3,912.16 | 4,076.54 | 4,190.01 | 4,247.86 |
The Official Journal prints these amounts in the European convention (6 152,64). They are written here as 6,152.64 because this page is in English. The digits are unchanged and nothing is rounded. AD 16 has three steps, not five.
Sources: 2025 annual update of the remuneration and pensions of the officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto — Official Journal C/2025/6564 of 11 December 2025 (amounts applicable from 1 July 2025) · Staff Regulations, Article 66 (basic monthly salaries, table applicable from 1 July 2025) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · EPSO/AD/427/26, Official Journal C/2026/711 of 5 February 2026
From the gross figure to what reaches your account
Start at the top with the Article 66 amount, add what applies to you, take off what is withheld, and you have the shape of a payslip. Every amount and every percentage below is read from the article named on the block.
AD 5, step 1 — Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, table in force since 1 July 2025.
What is added: allowances
None of these is automatic. Each depends on conditions set in the Staff Regulations and its Annex VII, and on facts about the official rather than on the grade.
16 % of the total of basic salary, household allowance and dependent child allowance. It may never be less than €714.89 a month. On AD 5, step 1 alone it is worth €984.42 a month.
Article 69 — for officials who were not living in, or working for the state of, the country of employment before they were recruited.
A base amount of €241.21 a month, plus 2 % of basic salary.
Annex VII, Article 1 — for officials who meet the family conditions set out there.
€527.06 a month for each dependent child. It is per child, not per family.
Annex VII, Article 2(1).
Up to €357.62 a month per child, reimbursed against education costs actually incurred and subject to the conditions in the Annex.
Annex VII, Article 3.
What is taken off
The first of these changes the salary itself; the rest are withheld before the money is paid. Each carries the rate the article actually sets.
Article 66 sets one EU-wide amount. A coefficient for the country of employment then adjusts it to local living costs — upwards where they are higher, downwards where they are lower. Belgium and Luxembourg carry no coefficient at all: Article 64 makes them the reference. The full table by duty station is below.
Article 64, and the values in Official Journal C/2025/6564 applicable from 1 July 2025.
Salaries paid by the European Union are taxed by the European Union: a European tax replaces national income tax on that salary and is withheld before payment. It is progressive, and it is charged on the salary after the pension and social contributions and a further 10 % abatement for occupational and personal expenses — so the top rate is nowhere near the effective one. The bands are below.
Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68, Articles 3 and 4.
13.1 % of basic salary — the official's own third of the cost of the EU pension scheme, deducted every month. It is computed on the unweighted Article 66 amount: the correction coefficient does not apply to it. On AD 5, step 1 that is €806.00 a month.
Article 83(2), at the rate set with effect from 1 July 2025 by Official Journal C/2025/6569.
The official bears one third of the cost of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme, and Article 72(1) caps that share at 2 % of basic salary — €123.05 a month on AD 5, step 1. The rate actually charged is set in the scheme's own Common Rules rather than in the Staff Regulations, and this page does not print one, because no official text stating it could be read.
Article 72(1).
The official's contribution to insurance against non-occupational risks, up to 0.1 % of basic salary — at most €6.15 a month on AD 5, step 1.
Article 73(1).
Applied from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2023 and not deducted since. It is on this list only because so much third-party material still subtracts it.
Staff Regulations, Article 66a.
A single official in Brussels, on AD 5, step 1, with the expatriation allowance and no dependants. Change the duty station or the family situation and the figure changes: that is why no honest page gives one net number without saying whose it is. The full arithmetic is below.
Sources: Staff Regulations, Article 66 (basic monthly salaries, table applicable from 1 July 2025) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Staff Regulations, Article 69 (expatriation allowance) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Staff Regulations, Annex VII, Articles 1 to 3 (household, dependent child and education allowances) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Staff Regulations, Article 83(2) (officials' pension contribution) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68, Articles 3 and 4 (tax for the benefit of the European Union) — consolidated version 01968R0260-20021003 · Update with effect from 1 July 2025 of the rate of contribution to the pension scheme of officials and other servants of the European Union — Official Journal C/2025/6569 of 11 December 2025
What your duty station does to it: the correction coefficients
Article 66 sets one amount for the whole Union. Article 64 then weights an official's remuneration at a rate above, below or equal to 100 %, depending on living conditions where they are posted. The values below are the ones applicable to remuneration from 1 July 2025.
The first thing to know is what most guides leave out: Belgium and Luxembourg carry no correction coefficient at all. Article 64 says so in terms — they are the reference, “having regard to the special referential role of those places of employment as principal and original seats of most of the institutions”. A Brussels posting is the 100 that every other figure is measured against.
| Duty station | Coefficient, 1 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Brussels) | 100 — no coefficient, Article 64 |
| Luxembourg | 100 — no coefficient, Article 64 |
| Bulgaria | 66.1 |
| Czechia | 91.2 |
| Denmark | 130.5 |
| Germany | 102.7 |
| Germany — Munich | 112.0 |
| Estonia | 95.0 |
| Ireland | 130.7 |
| Greece | 87.0 |
| Spain | 92.4 |
| France | 113.6 |
| Croatia | 84.3 |
| Italy | 87.5 |
| Italy — Varese | 87.0 |
| Cyprus | 79.0 |
| Latvia | 84.3 |
| Lithuania | 87.4 |
| Hungary | 76.6 |
| Malta | 92.4 |
| Netherlands | 113.2 |
| Austria | 106.7 |
| Poland | 82.3 |
| Portugal | 92.4 |
| Romania | 72.9 |
| Slovenia | 86.6 |
| Slovakia | 85.1 |
| Finland | 110.8 |
| Sweden | 119.5 |
Remuneration coefficients only. The same Official Journal table also carries separate columns for pension transfers and for pensions, which answer different questions and are not reproduced here.
Sources: 2025 annual update of the remuneration and pensions of the officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto — Official Journal C/2025/6564 of 11 December 2025 (amounts applicable from 1 July 2025) · Staff Regulations, Article 64 (weighting of remuneration; no coefficient in Belgium and Luxembourg) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101
The European tax, band by band
An EU official pays no national income tax on the EU salary; a European tax is withheld at source instead. Article 4 of Regulation No 260/68 sets a progressive scale from 8 % to 45 %. The base amounts in that article date from 1968 and mean nothing on their own: they are multiplied by a coefficient updated every year, 7.8037 with effect from 1 July 2025. The column below is the scale in current money.
Read it with Article 3 in mind, or it will mislead. The tax is not charged on gross pay. Family allowances come off first, then the pension and social security withholdings, then a flat 10 % abatement for occupational and personal expenses, plus twice the dependent child allowance for each dependent child. The expatriation allowance is not in the list Article 3(3) deducts, so it is taxed.
| Rate | From (€/month) | To (€/month) |
|---|---|---|
| 8.00 % | 155.37 | 2,742.69 |
| 10.00 % | 2,742.77 | 3,777.69 |
| 12.50 % | 3,777.77 | 4,329.41 |
| 15.00 % | 4,329.49 | 4,916.10 |
| 17.50 % | 4,916.17 | 5,467.82 |
| 20.00 % | 5,467.90 | 6,002.68 |
| 22.50 % | 6,002.76 | 6,554.64 |
| 25.00 % | 6,554.72 | 7,089.51 |
| 27.50 % | 7,089.58 | 7,641.23 |
| 30.00 % | 7,641.31 | 8,176.09 |
| 32.50 % | 8,176.17 | 8,728.05 |
| 35.00 % | 8,728.13 | 9,262.91 |
| 40.00 % | 9,262.99 | 9,814.64 |
| 45.00 % | 9,814.71 |
Nothing up to €155.37 a month is taxed. Amounts are the Article 4 figures multiplied by the 7.8037 coefficient set in Official Journal C/2025/6564, and change when that coefficient is updated.
Sources: Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68, Articles 3 and 4 (tax for the benefit of the European Union) — consolidated version 01968R0260-20021003 · 2025 annual update of the remuneration and pensions of the officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto — Official Journal C/2025/6564 of 11 December 2025 (amounts applicable from 1 July 2025)
A worked example: AD 5, step 1, in Brussels
Assumptions, stated so you can change them: single, no dependent children, posted in Brussels (so no correction coefficient), entitled to the expatriation allowance, no household or education allowance.
| Line | € per month | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Basic salary, AD 5 step 1 | 6,152.64 | Article 66 |
| + Expatriation allowance, 16 % | 984.42 | Article 69 |
| = Gross | 7,137.06 | sum of the two above |
| − Pension contribution, 13.1 % of basic | −806.00 | Article 83(2) |
| − Sickness insurance, at the Article 72(1) ceiling | −123.05 | Article 72(1) |
| − Accident cover, at the Article 73 ceiling | −6.15 | Article 73(1) |
| − European tax on the abated base | −586.78 | Regulation 260/68 |
| = Net, in this case | 5,615.09 | the lines above |
Taxable amount after the 10 % abatement: €5,581.68, which the scale above taxes at €586.78.
Why this page gives a range and not a single number. One input above is a ceiling rather than a rate: Article 72(1) caps the official's sickness contribution at 2 % of basic salary but does not set the rate charged, and that rate is not in any text we can cite. Taking the sickness and accident lines at zero instead of at their ceilings moves the net to €5,721.03. The true figure sits between the two: €5,615–€5,721 a month. Anyone quoting a single exact net figure for an AD5 is quoting an assumption they have not told you about.
Every euro in the table is computed from the sourced figures above rather than typed, so it moves with the next annual update instead of going stale.
Sources: 2025 annual update of the remuneration and pensions of the officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto — Official Journal C/2025/6564 of 11 December 2025 (amounts applicable from 1 July 2025) · Update with effect from 1 July 2025 of the rate of contribution to the pension scheme of officials and other servants of the European Union — Official Journal C/2025/6569 of 11 December 2025 · Staff Regulations, Article 72(1) (Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme: one third of the cost, capped at 2 % of basic salary) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Staff Regulations, Article 73(1) (contribution to cover against non-occupational risks, up to 0.1 % of basic salary) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68, Articles 3 and 4 (tax for the benefit of the European Union) — consolidated version 01968R0260-20021003
The 6 % solidarity levy is not deducted any more
This one deserves its own heading, because it is the most common error in third-party writing about EU pay. The solidarity levy of 6 % under Article 66a of the Staff Regulations applied from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2023. It is not in force, and it is not taken off a payslip today.
Salary guides, forum answers and comparison pages still list it as a current deduction. They are quoting a period that closed at the end of 2023. If a net estimate you have been given subtracts a 6 % solidarity levy, that estimate is out of date.
How the figure moves: steps and promotion
Two things move an official up the table. Seniority advances you through the steps inside your grade: Article 44 makes it automatic once you have been at one step for 2 years, unless your last annual report was unsatisfactory, and in no case later than 4 years. Promotion moves you to the next grade, by selection, and needs a minimum of two years in grade under Article 45.
So an AD5 recruited at step 1 walks up the grade on a fixed clock:
| Grade and step | When | € per month | vs. start |
|---|---|---|---|
| AD 5, step 1 | on recruitment | 6,152.64 | — |
| AD 5, step 2 | after 2 years | 6,411.17 | +258.53 |
| AD 5, step 3 | after 4 years | 6,680.58 | +527.94 |
| AD 5, step 4 | after 6 years | 6,866.46 | +713.82 |
| AD 5, step 5 | after 8 years | 6,961.29 | +808.65 |
Basic gross only, at the amounts in force since 1 July 2025. The annual update moves the whole table separately from this.
- Inside AD 5, step 1 to step 2 is worth €258.53 more a month; step 1 to step 5 is worth €808.65 more.
- The grades overlap exactly at the join. AD 5 step 5 and AD 6 step 1 are the same amount (€6,961.29); so are AD 6 step 5 and AD 7 step 1 (€7,876.27), and AD 7 step 5 and AD 8 step 1 (€8,911.48).
- From the AD5 entry grade to AD 8 step 5 is a difference of €3,930.13 a month in basic gross.
The overlap has a practical reading: a promotion taken from the top step of a grade does not change the basic salary on the day it takes effect. What it changes is the ceiling you are then working towards.
Every figure in this section is a subtraction performed on the Article 66 table above, and on nothing else.
Sources: Staff Regulations, Article 66 (basic monthly salaries, table applicable from 1 July 2025) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101 · Staff Regulations, Article 44 (automatic advancement to the next step) — consolidated version of 1 January 2026, CELEX 01962R0031-20260101
Related questions
How much does an EU AD5 official actually earn?
A newly recruited AD5 official starts at grade AD 5, step 1, on a basic gross salary of €6,152.64 per month under Article 66 of the Staff Regulations (table in force since 1 July 2025). After the expatriation allowance is added and the 13.1 % pension contribution, sickness and accident cover and European tax are withheld, a single official posted in Brussels takes home €5,615–€5,721 a month. That is a Brussels posting with the expatriation allowance and no dependants; another duty station carries a correction coefficient and another figure.
What is the basic salary for AD 5, step 1?
€6,152.64 gross per month. Source: the 2025 annual update of remuneration, Official Journal C/2025/6564 of 11 December 2025, §1.1, giving the Article 66 table applicable from 1 July 2025.
What is the AD7 salary in the EU institutions?
AD 7, step 1 is €7,876.27 basic gross per month, rising to €8,911.48 at step 5. AD 7 is the recruitment grade for the EPSO Audit and ICT competitions. Source: Article 66 of the Staff Regulations, Official Journal C/2025/6564, in force since 1 July 2025.
Is the AD5 salary the same in every EU country?
No. Article 66 sets one EU-wide amount per grade and step, and a correction coefficient for the country of employment is then applied to it. Belgium and Luxembourg carry no coefficient at all — Article 64 makes them the reference at 100. From 1 July 2025 the coefficient is 130.7 in Ireland, 113.6 in France, 87.5 in Italy, 87.0 in Greece and 66.1 in Bulgaria.
How much tax do EU officials pay?
EU officials pay a European tax withheld at source instead of national income tax on the EU salary. Article 4 of Regulation No 260/68 sets a progressive scale from 8 % to 45 %, applied to base amounts multiplied by a coefficient of 7.8037 from 1 July 2025. The tax is charged after family allowances, pension and social contributions and a 10 % abatement for occupational and personal expenses, so the effective rate is far below the top band.
What is deducted from the gross salary of an EU official?
A pension contribution of 13.1 % of basic salary (Article 83(2), rate set by Official Journal C/2025/6569 with effect from 1 July 2025), a contribution to the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme capped at 2 % of basic salary (Article 72(1)), up to 0.1 % of basic salary for accident and occupational disease cover (Article 73(1)), and the European tax withheld at source under Regulation No 260/68.
How often does an EU official move up a step?
Every 2 years, automatically. Article 44 of the Staff Regulations advances an official who has been at one step in the grade for 2 years to the next step, unless the last annual report was unsatisfactory, and in no case later than 4 years. Promotion to the next grade is separate and is by selection.
Is the 6 % solidarity levy still deducted from EU salaries?
No. The solidarity levy of 6 % under Article 66a of the Staff Regulations applied from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2023 and is no longer in force, so it is not deducted today. Many salary guides still include it. Source: Staff Regulations, Article 66a, consolidated version of 1 January 2026 (CELEX 01962R0031-20260101).
How much is the EU expatriation allowance?
16 % of the total of basic salary, household allowance and dependent child allowance, and never less than €714.89 a month. On AD 5, step 1 with no family allowances that is €984.42 a month. Source: Article 69 of the Staff Regulations and Official Journal C/2025/6564 §5.5, applicable from 1 July 2025.
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