Salary levels and progression

The EU institutions use a structured system based on grades and steps to determine how salaries are set and how they increase over time. A grade shows your rank and is linked to your contract type, job level and responsibility within the EU institutions. Grades are numbered to reflect increasing seniority and job complexity: lower grades are typically entry-level roles, while higher grades are linked to senior, managerial or specialist positions. Each grade is divided into several steps. These determine your base salary and reflect seniority and experience within that grade. Salary progression follows these principles: 

• When you are recruited, you are assigned to a step based on your previous professional experience.
• Moving up a grade is only possible for permanent staff and is based on merit, after having worked for at least two years in the same grade.
• Step increases are automatic every 2 years. 
• If you successfully apply internally for a senior position or management position, you may also move to a higher grade. 

To find out which grade applies to a job, check the function group indicated in the vacancy notice. See the contract types page for a description of each type. 

Further information

See the Official Journal notice on the annual update of EU staff remuneration and correction coefficients.