EU Employees Get 7th Pay Raise in 3 Years as Europeans’ Living Standards Plummet
While ordinary Europeans face rising costs and ever-worsening living standards as a result of the EU leadership’s incompetence, corruption, and recklessness, EU officials are enjoying another round of substantial wage increases.
Starting in April, nearly 66,000 European Union staff members will get their seventh pay raise in just three years, according to a report from German media.
The most glaring example is European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen—nicknamed “Queen Ursula” for her increasingly tight grip on power and her anti-democratic leadership style—whose monthly salary will increase by €2,700 to a staggering €34,800 (approximately $2,900 to $37,500).
|Brussels turns itself into a self-service shop: 66,000 employees of #EU institutions, including the @EU_Commission, will receive another pay raise starting in April – the 7th (!) since early 2022. @vonderleyen, entangled in numerous scandals, will then enjoy €34,800 per… pic.twitter.com/3lLFSXfpT6
— Christine Anderson (@AndersonAfDMdEP) March 24, 2025
At the lower end, the starting basic salary for EU institutions’ staff will increase from €3,361 ($3,663) at the beginning of 2024 to €3,645 ($3,973). At the top pay grade, it will increase from €23,262 to €25,229 ($25,356 to $27,499).
EU Commissioners, or Kommisars as they are sometimes called, will get an additional €2,200 (about $2,390), bringing their salaries up to about €28,400 (roughly $30,850) per month.
While EU officials traditionally get annual raises in line with inflation rates, this latest round is particularly troubling, as the European Commission—the European Union’s executive wing—actively opposes wage indexation in member states, such as Belgium, arguing it increases labor costs and sparks inflationary spirals.
However, when it comes to their own paychecks, EU leaders conveniently overlook these concerns.
The salary increases are based on an index tracking the cost of living for EU employees in Belgium and Luxembourg, calculated using inflation rates specific to these two countries.
Although inflation in the EU soared to 11.5% in 2022, largely due to the financial fallout from COVID-19-related spending, it has since decreased. In February 2025, inflation had dropped to just 2.7% in the EU and 2.3% in the Eurozone, which includes countries using the euro.
It’s worth noting that some EU officials also get sickening large severance packages.
For instance, when Charles Michel stepped down as president of the European Council—also part of the EU’s executive, which brings together the heads of state from the EU’s 27 member countries to set its political agenda—last year, he walked away with a “transitional allowance” of about €260,000 (approximately $280,000 USD).
Such perks only add fuel to the fire of public outrage as Europe’s elites continue to line their pockets while the average citizen struggles to make ends meet.
It’s a bitter irony that, while the EU rails against wage increases in its member states, its staff continues to rake in ever-higher pay. As everyday Europeans tighten their belts, the EU’s elites seem utterly disconnected from the reality most people are facing.
