The London School of Economics produced a paper in January 2016 (HERE) about EU funding and who actually pays it. I don't remember during the campaign the EU budget and our payment being presented in the way the LSE have done in this paper. It is a pity because the figures are interesting when the xenophobia of the press and the Conservative right are taken out of the debate. The UK contributes the least out of all the EU member states. Who knew?
- Spending by the EU [Commission] in 2014 was around 1% of the Gross National Income (GNI) of the Union. In the same year, the US federal government spent some twenty times as much.
- The UK is a major contributor to the EU budget because it is one of the four largest economies in the EU, but has consistently paid less than France (since 1985) and (latterly) Italy, let alone Germany.
- As a share of gross national income, the UK pays the least of all Member States into the EU budget, principally because of the UK rebate, implemented since 1985.
- However, the UK has consistently been a net contributor to the EU budget because the amount of money it receives from EU spending programmes is lower than its payments into it.
Looking at these facts makes us look rather miserly compared to Germany, France and Italy. Spending 1% of the total GNI of the whole Union looks trivial. One wonders why so much is made of it.
