Employment contracts at the EPPO

Temporary agent posts are classified into two function groups, according to the nature and importance of the duties involved: 

• ‘Administrators’ function group (AD) covers 12 grades, from AD 5 to AD 16, corresponding to technical, administrative, advisory, linguistic and scientific duties; 
• ‘Assistants’ function group (AST) covers 11 grades, from AST 1 to AST 11, corresponding to executive, technical and clerical duties. 

Typically, a temporary agent contract is for 3 years, with the possibility of renewal. The probationary period is 9 months.

For information about pay and allowances for each grade, please refer to the latest version of Annual update of the remuneration and pensions of the officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto (current version is applicable since July 2021).

Contract agent posts are classified into 4 function groups (FG), according to the duties and responsibilities involved: 

• FG I corresponds to administrative support service tasks; 
• FG II corresponds to secretarial and office management tasks; 
• FG III corresponds to executive, drafting and accountancy tasks; 
• FG IV corresponds to administrative, scientific, advisory, and linguistic tasks. 

Employment contract is for a maximum of 2 years, with the possibility of renewal. Contract agents recruited for more than 1 year have a probationary period of 9 months.

For information about pay and allowances for each function group, please refer to the latest version of Annual update of the remuneration and pensions of the officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto (current version is applicable since July 2021).

As outlined in Article 98 of the EPPO Regulation, in addition to its own staff, in certain fields EPPO makes use of knowledge and expertise of Seconded National Experts (SNEs) – civil servants employed by other public administration institutions. 

During the period of their secondment to the EPPO, SNEs remain in service of, and continue to be paid by, their original employer.

Mobility via inter-agency vacancies is reserved for staff who are employed by other EU agencies, institutions or bodies, referred to in Article 1 a(2) of Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community as:

• temporary staff 2(f), who on the closing date for applications and on the day of filling the vacant post, are employed within their agency/Institution or Body in a grade and function group corresponding to the published grade bracket and function group, or 
• contract staff 3a, who belongs to the same function group as the one published in the vacancy and who have served for at least three years as contract staff in Union agency, Institution or Body, as well as who belongs to the function group below the published grade and passed at EPPO a general selection procedure, or 
• contract staff 3b, who belong to the same function group as the one published in the vacancy notice, have served as contract agent 3b staff for at least three years within the Institution or Body and have the qualifications, skills and experience required to carry out the tasks set out in the vacancy notice.