Translating for the European Commission — contract staff

If you would like to work for DG Translation as a member of our contract staff, you need to respond to one of our calls for contract staff. To see if you've got what we're looking for, check our ideal translator profile.

Duration of contracts

3 months to 3 years. Note: in any 12-year period, you cannot work for the European Commission on non-permanent contracts for more than 6 years in total (all types of contract combined).

Probationary period

9 months (for contract of 1 year or more)

Minimum qualifications

You must:

have completed a full university-level course of at least three years and obtained a degree
have one year’s professional experience
have a perfect command of your mother tongue/main language (language 1)
have a thorough knowledge of English, French or German (language 2) and be able to translate out of it
in addition to languages 1 and 2, have a thorough knowledge of a second language (language 3) and be able to translate out of it.

All three languages must be official languages of the European Union. Specific language requirements will be indicated in the calls for expression of interest.

General terms and conditions

You must:

be a citizen of one of the EU member states
enjoy full citizen’s rights
have fulfilled any obligations relating to military service in your home country
meet the character requirements for the duties involved.

The European institutions apply an equal opportunities policy and accept applications without distinction on grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

What we offer

Salary

Translators are recruited in function group IV, from grade 13 upwards.

Gross basic monthly salary (€) for contractual translators^*
Grade	Step
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
18	5.832,42	5.953,71	6.077,52	6.203,91	6.332,92	6.464,62	6.599,06
17	5.154,85	5.262,04	5.371,47	5.483,18	5.597,20	5.713,60	5.832,42
16	4.555,99	4.650,73	4.747,45	4.846,17	4.946,95	5.049,83	5.154,85
15	4.026,70	4.110,44	4.195,92	4.283,18	4.372,25	4.463,17	4.555,99
14	3.558,90	3.632,91	3.708,46	3.785,58	3.864,31	3.944,67	4.026,70
13	3.145,45	3.210,86	3.277,63	3.345,80	3.415,37	3.486,40	3.558,90
* 1/7/2010. Subject to salary adjustments according to the Staff Regulation.

The salary may be lower or higher than indicated owing to adjustment for the lower or higher cost of living in certain member states.

Income tax and social security

Your rate of income tax and social insurance contributions are set by and paid to the EU. You do not pay national tax on your salary.

Health insurance and pensions

The social insurance scheme for EU staff covers sickness, accident, unemployment, invalidity and death, and pension rights. Your employee contributions are deducted from salary.
For up to 1 year after recruitment, you can stay registered with the social security system under which you were last covered.
After 1 year you must register with the Community insurance scheme.

Allowances

You may qualify for:

a household allowance for your husband/wife or registered partner and children
an education allowance and access to the European School for your children
reimbursement of moving costs
installation indemnities
expatriation allowance if your place of work is outside your country of origin

Selection procedure

European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) launches a call for expressions of interest ("a CAST").
applicants are invited to take a preselection test (multiple-choice questions; verbal and numerical reasoning) and a language test (normally translation into your mother tongue or main language).
a list of successful applicants is drawn up (valid for 3 years) — you may be recruited from the list as and when needs arise
pre-recruitment medical examination

Apply now

Check the EU Careers website for calls for expression of interest — and apply online.