EU salary calculator: net pay in Brussels

How much will I earn net at the EU institutions?

A new administrator at grade AD5 takes home about €4,749 a month if single, or €5,734 after a move to Belgium. A graduate contract agent (FG IV, grade 13) takes home about €3,754, or €4,220 after a move.

Pick your contract, grade and situation below. The calculator uses the salary scales and allowances in force since 1 July 2025 and follows the steps of the EU payroll: allowances on top of the basic salary, then insurance contributions, EU tax and the solidarity levy. Your job offer or vacancy notice gives the grade; the step depends on your experience.

We checked the calculator against the published net pay examples of an EU agency: for twelve contract-agent and temporary-agent grades and steps, single and with the expatriation allowance, it gives the same net to the cent.

Sources: Official Journal C/2025/6564 (2025 pay update), AMLA, monthly salary examples (checked November 2026)

What do common EU entry jobs pay net?

Entry jobs at the EU institutions pay between about €3,018 and €5,734 net a month for a single person who moved to Belgium. The expatriation allowance adds the most.

Net monthly pay in Brussels, single, no children, from 1 July 2025

Step 1 of each grade, full time. Officials and temporary agents in the same grade have the same basic salary; temporary agents pay a small unemployment contribution.

Which allowances do EU staff get?

The main ones are the expatriation allowance of 16 %, the household allowance and €527.06 a month for each dependent child. They depend on your situation, not on the job.

Expatriation allowance

16 % of basic salary plus household and child allowances, and at least €714.89 a month (€513.91 for parliamentary assistants). You get it if you are not Belgian and did not live or work mainly in Belgium in the five years before you joined. Staff who are not Belgian but do not qualify get a foreign residence allowance of a quarter of that amount.

Household allowance

2 % of basic salary plus €241.21 a month, for staff who are married or in a recognised partnership, or who have a dependent child.

Dependent child allowance

€527.06 a month for each child you support.

Education allowance

Up to €357.62 a month for each child in school. Children of EU staff go to the European Schools free of charge. The calculator leaves this allowance out.

Installation allowance and travel

When you move for the job, a one-off installation allowance and your travel and removal costs. They are paid once, so they are not in a monthly figure.

Sources: Official Journal C/2025/6564 (2025 pay update), EU Careers, salary and allowances (checked October 2026)

What is deducted from an EU salary?

Insurance contributions, EU tax of 8 % to 45 % and a solidarity levy. EU staff do not pay Belgian income tax on their salary.

• Pension: 13.1 % of basic salary.
• Health and accident insurance: 1.7 % and 0.1 % of basic salary.
• Unemployment insurance: temporary agents, contract agents and parliamentary assistants pay a small contribution, under €50 a month at most grades. Officials do not.
• EU tax: progressive, from 8 % to 45 %. It is charged on the basic salary after the contributions, a flat deduction of 10 % and a deduction for each child. The tax may not take your pay below the basic salary of grade AD1 step 1, €3,754, so many junior contract agents and assistants pay little or no EU tax.
• Solidarity levy: 6 % (7 % from grade AD15 step 2) of what is left of the basic salary, after contributions and tax, above the basic salary of grade AD1. Lower grades pay little or nothing.

Because the tax is progressive and the allowances are added on top, the gap between gross and net is smaller for junior staff and for those with family allowances. The pension contribution is the largest single deduction for most junior staff, larger than the tax.

Source: EU Careers, salary and allowances (checked November 2026)

What are the EU salary scales for 2025?

Officials and temporary agents are paid on the AD/AST scale of 16 grades with up to five steps; contract agents on their own scale of 18 grades with seven steps.

AD grades are for administrators, AST for assistants. Graduates usually start at AD5, assistants at AST1 to AST3. Contract agents are in function groups: FG IV (grades 13 to 18) for graduate work, FG III (8 to 12), FG II (4 to 7) and FG I (1 to 3) for support work.

AD/AST basic monthly salary, from 1 July 2025

Contract agents, basic monthly salary, from 1 July 2025

The scale for accredited parliamentary assistants, 19 grades, is on our European Parliament page.

Source: Official Journal C/2025/6564 (2025 pay update) (checked November 2026)

When do EU salaries change?

Every year on 1 July. The update follows the pay of national civil servants and is usually published in December, then paid back to July.

On top of the yearly update, staff move up one step every two years in the same grade, and officials can be promoted to a higher grade. The 2026 update is due in December 2026; we will update the calculator when it is published.

Frequently asked questions