Policy Assistant - European Commission (FGIII, Brussels)

About this position

The summary below is published by European Commission on the official vacancy notice. Our own analysis — salary realism, comparable openings, career trajectory, language profile — follows further down the page.

Key responsibilities

According to the vacancy notice, the role centres on the following duties:

• Assessment of potential extension of the CBAM scope to other EU ETS sectors at risk of carbon leakage
• Developing the methodology for calculating emissions embedded in CBAM goods
• Economic and risk analysis, including quantitative/empirical analysis of customs, trade and other relevant data
• Contributing to work on developing potential extension of CBAM methodology for calculating emissions embedded in CBAM goods
• Continuous contacts with other units in TAXUD and other Commission services, EU institutions, Member States, business groups, academics and experts

Are you eligible?

Check these requirements from the notice before investing time in an application:

• Education: Degree with a link to environmental or climate policies, preferably in a scientific/engineering field
• Key skills: Good analytical skills and sound judgement, and an ability to identify and work out concrete solutions, A sense of initiative, ability to perform a variety of tasks and deliver results under tight deadlines, Excellent communication and drafting skills and an ability to cooperate with external stakeholders, A pro-active and positive attitude, 'out of the box' thinking and readiness to work across silos

Selection process

The notice describes the following selection steps:

• Registration in the open EPSO database (CAST Permanent profile)
• Submission of CV, motivation letter, and completed application form

Contract and working arrangements

Contract duration: Maximum 6 years.

Working arrangements: Flexible working conditions including the possibility of teleworking.

Hiring unit: Unit TAXUD.C.5. Economic Analysis and Taxation of Exempted Sector, Brussels.

Position details

Reference

EC/2026/TAXUD/522129

Directorate-General

TAXUD - Taxation and Customs Union

Vacancy Notice

Download PDF

Last Verified

23 July 2026

Position overview

This is the official EU Careers listing for Policy Assistant at European Commission based in Brussels at the FGIII grade level (Contract Agent). The vacancy reference is EC/2026/TAXUD/522129. It is hosted by TAXUD - Taxation and Customs Union, the Directorate-General responsible for this policy area. The role falls under the Climate domain.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - JOIN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Do you want to help shape the future of the European Union? Make the planet greener, promote a fairer society, or support businesses and innovation across the EU? Then come and work for the European Commission where you can really make a difference!

Commission staff are a diverse group of people, who are motivated to help make Europe – and the world – a better place. They come from the 27 Member States of the European Union. Different nationalities, backgrounds, languages and cultures make the Commission a vibrant and inclusive place to work.

WE OFFER GREAT JOBS AND GREAT WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Interesting and challenging positions with plenty of opportunities for training and acquiring new skills and competencies throughout your whole career

• Opportunities to try several areas of move between different policy your career

• A package of flexible working conditions including the possibility of teleworking – we care about your work-life balance

• A competitive financial package, including comprehensive healthcare, accident and pension schemes

• A multilingual, multicultural workplace where personal and career development are strongly promoted

• Multilingual schools for your children

We recruit from a wide range of backgrounds and actively promote diversity and inclusion:

We do not only recruit political scientists and lawyers but are also looking for all kinds of profiles, including scientists, linguists, IT experts, data analysts and economists, as well as drivers and engineers.

We are committed to equal opportunities and to fostering a rich, diverse and inclusive working environment. We aim for our workforce to be representative of European society and strongly welcome applications from all qualified candidates. We actively seek to create a workplace where each staff member feels valued and respected, can give their best and can develop to their full potential. (Reference: Call for interest EC/2026/TAXUD/522129)

To promote diversity and establish a geographically balanced pool of candidates, we strongly encourage applicants from Member States which are currently underrepresented in the European Commission workforce to apply. These Member States are currently Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. Recruitment will however remain strictly based on the merits of all applicants and no positions will be reserved for nationals of any specific Member State.

For more information ec.europa.eu/work-with-us

STAFF RECRUITED ON CONTRACTS

In addition to permanent officials, the European Commission offers non-permanent positions. There are two categories of non-permanent staff:

> •

temporary agents are recruited to fill vacant positions for a set amount of time or

to perform highly specialised tasks.

> •

contract agents may provide additional capacity in specialised fields where an

insufficient number of officials is available or carry out a number of administrative or manual tasks. They are generally recruited for fixed-term contracts (maximum 6 years in any EU Institution), but in some cases they can be offered contracts for an indefinite duration (in offices, agencies, delegations or representations).

For more information on different staff categories (Reference: Call for interest EC/2026/TAXUD/522129)

# Policy Assistant

# in DG TAXUD - European Commission

Job title: Policy Assistant – CBAM

Domain: Climate Action

Where : Unit TAXUD.C.5. Economic Analysis and Taxation of Exempted Sector, Brussels

Function Group : FG III

Contract Type : 3b

Express your interest until : 29.07.2026 - 12.00 (Brussels time)

WE ARE

The Directorate General Customs and Taxation (DG TAXUD) mission is to promote fair and

sustainable policies that generate revenue for the EU and its Member States and ensure that EU

citizens and businesses benefit from global trade and a safe and secure Single Market protected at

its borders.

Within DG TAXUD, Directorate C is developing an overall policy in the area of indirect taxation,

including financial sector taxation as well as environmental, transport and energy taxation, VAT,

excise duties and tax administration. It is also responsible for developing and implementing the

Carbon border adjustment mechanism and tax initiatives included in the European Green Deal. The

Directorate includes more than 100 staff with a good mix of officials, temporary and contract

agents and national experts.

Unit C.5 is responsible for providing sound economic analysis to support EU policies in the field of

indirect taxation, developing methodologies for the operation of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment

Mechanism (CBAM), contributing to EU tax policy development and co-ordination of indirect tax

matters in the area of financial sector taxation or other sectors currently exempt from VAT. It works

closely with the Principal Adviser to the Director-General, and it is also coordinating the contribution

of Directorate C to the European Semester.

The C.5 team working on CBAM will work closely with other units in the directorate and the DG

covering other responsibilities related to CBAM. The CBAM team is relatively recent and fast

growing. The team is made up of motivated colleagues with very different backgrounds including in

the area of economics, climate & environmental policies, engineering and policymaking. (Reference: Call for interest EC/2026/TAXUD/522129)

WE PROPOSE

TAXUD Unit C5 is seeking to hire a Policy Assistant (Contract Agent Function Group III) to join a a

very motivated team designing and operating the CBAM, a ground-breaking climate instrument and

the first of its kind worldwide. The job entails a rare mix of intellectual curiosity, analytical depth,

policy relevance and operational impact.

The CBAM team in Unit C5 is in charge of

• assessment of potential extension of the CBAM scope to other EU ETS sectors at risk of

carbon leakage (e.g. chemicals, pulp, paper)

• developing the methodology for calculating emissions embedded in CBAM goods

• economic and risk analysis, including quantitative/empirical analysis of customs, trade and

other relevant data.

The job holder is expected to contribute to the work on developing the potential extension of CBAM

methodology for calculating emissions embedded in CBAM goods – this comprises both the work on

the current product scope as well as preparing the methodological grounds for a possible extension

of the scope to other sectors. This work closely interlinks with the work on economic and impact

analysis, giving the job holder a diverse portfolio of tasks and responsibilities.

The job entails continuous contacts with other units in TAXUD, notably Unit C2 in charge, inter alia,

of CBAM legislation and units dealing with customs and IT issues, as well as with other Commission

services such as CLIMA, ENER, JRC, GROW, TRADE, ECFIN, and COMP, other EU institutions and

Member States as well as with business groups, academics, experts and other interested parties.

WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for a dynamic and motivated new colleague to join our CBAM-team at the

intersection of technical analysis and climate policies.

Candidates should hold a degree with a link to environmental or climate policies, preferably in a

scientific/engineering field. Knowledge of environmental, climate and energy policies including the

EU Emission Trading System would be desirable. Familiarity with energy-industries, in particular

CBAM sectors, would be an asset.

Moreover, the ideal candidate would have the following skills:

• Good analytical skills and sound judgement, and an ability to identify and work out concrete

solutions;

• A sense of initiative, ability to perform a variety of tasks and deliver results under tight

deadlines;

• Excellent communication and drafting skills and an ability to cooperate with external

stakeholders; (Reference: Call for interest EC/2026/TAXUD/522129)

• A pro-active and positive attitude, ‘out of the box’ thinking and readiness to work across

silos;

We are looking for a colleague enjoying working in a team with other experienced colleagues from

different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Candidates will join a new versatile team and to work

closely with colleagues in other units in TAXUD and in the Commission. DG TAXUD promotes a spirit

of entrepreneurship and initiative, needed for this post.

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST?

With a view to guaranteeing equal access to all, the Commission recruits from an open database of spontaneous applications. The present call for interests aims at helping the recruiters to identify potentially interested candidates within this database.

In practice, to express your interest, please follow the subsequent two steps:

1. If you are not registered yet in the open EPSO database, please do so at the following address: CAST Permanent . Please select under selection procedures for contract agent the

CAST permanent profile that best suits your education and experience.

2. You should send your documents in a single pdf in the following order: 1. your CV 2. motivation letter 3. completed application form. Please send these documents by the publication deadline to Astrid.VAN-

MIERLO@ec.europa.eu and Martin.Becker@ec.europa.eu indicating the call for interest

reference EC/2026/TAXUD/522129 in the subject.

No applications will be accepted after the publication deadline. (Reference: Call for interest EC/2026/TAXUD/522129)

# ANNEX

# 1. Selection

 Am I eligible to apply?

You must meet the following eligibility criteria when you validate your application :

Our rules provide that you can only be recruited as a contract agent at the European Commission if you:

General criteria:

Salary at this grade

Basic monthly salary at FGIII runs from €3,476 (step 1) to €3,932 (top step), giving an annual range of roughly €41,712 to €47,184 before tax and allowances. Steps increase automatically every two years; the figures here are taken from the salary grid in the EU Staff Regulations.

Eligible staff posted away from their country of nationality also receive an expatriation allowance worth 16% of basic salary (around €556 per month at step 1 of FGIII) together with household, dependent-child, and education allowances where applicable. Take-home pay is then adjusted by the country correction coefficient for Brussels. For a worked example see our correction coefficients guide and the EU salaries overview.

Application timeline

This vacancy was first listed on 16 July 2026, 7 days ago.

The application deadline is 29 July 2026, 5 days from today. Late applications are not accepted, so submit through the official EU Careers portal well in advance.

Last verified against the EU Careers feed on 23 July 2026.

Where to learn more

For full responsibilities, requirements, and career progression at FGIII see our FGIII grade page; for headcount, mission, and other open vacancies at European Commission see the European Commission institution page; for the cost of living, correction coefficient, and other postings in Brussels see our Brussels location page; for related vacancies in the Climate field browse our Climate domain page.

New to EU careers? Our beginner's guide walks through entry routes, EPSO competitions, and what to prepare. For application logistics see application tips and EPSO competitions.