EU Contributions

Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 25 February 2005.

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Photo of Graham Brady Graham Brady Shadow Minister (Europe)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the (a) gross and (b) net contributions of each EU member state since 1986.

Photo of Stephen Timms Stephen Timms The Financial Secretary to the Treasury

I have been asked to reply.

Details of member states gross contributions, after taking account of the UK abatement, receipts, and indicative net contributions for the period 1986 to 2003, the latest year for which information is currently available, are set out in the following tables.

Gross contributions by member state 1986–2003 -- € million
Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland
1986 1,448 791 8,730 632 2,321 6,885 344
1987 1,703 845 9,385 340 1,709 7,330 338
1988 1,834 956 11,535 430 2,678 9,096 328
1989 1,807 871 11,110 566 3,575 8,623 371
1990 1,764 775 10,358 564 3,671 8,090 368
1991 2,217 1,034 15,394 762 4,580 10,602 452
1992 2,239 1,035 16,998 729 4,828 10,493 462
1993 2,395 1,207 19,076 1,011 5,193 11,546 567
1994 2,822 1,296 21,366 992 4,718 12,551 639
1995 2,680 1,295 21,324 985 3,645 11,877 665
1996 2,751 1,369 20,743 1,106 4,547 12,423 682
1997 2,972 1,506 21,217 1,178 5,368 13,186 687
1998 3,131 1,695 20,633 1,310 5,752 13,584 985
1999 3,196 1,656 21,069 1,349 6,231 13,994 1,060
2000 3,389 1,685 21,775 1,334 6,445 14,511 1,074
2001 3,532 1,778 19,727 1,350 6,592 14,471 1,211
2002 3,018 1,688 17,582 1,338 6,551 14,152 1,019
2003 3,486 1,778 19,203 1,534 7,429 15,154 1,128
Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria Portugal Finland Sweden UK
1986 4,718 66 2,232 n/a 279 n/a n/a 4,825
1987 5,192 74 2,366 n/a 342 n/a n/a 5,728
1988 5,427 82 2,796 n/a 400 n/a n/a 5,324
1989 7,606 73 2,701 n/a 458 n/a n/a 6,568
1990 6,098 75 2,615 n/a 502 n/a n/a 6,534
1991 8,700 109 3,538 n/a 712 n/a n/a 4,736
1992 8,280 124 3,534 n/a 838 n/a n/a 6,702
1993 10,265 167 4,031 n/a 909 n/a n/a 7,627
1994 7,760 165 4,246 n/a 1,216 n/a n/a 6,417
1995 6,414 168 4,350 1,763 865 887 1,658 9,252
1996 9,005 161 4,436 1,874 852 964 1,969 8,219
1997 8,667 171 4,838 2,110 1,078 1,062 2,326 8,928
1998 10,582 217 5,105 2,086 1,105 1,146 2,383 12,537
1999 10,766 194 5,092 2,054 1,228 1,211 2,349 11,084
2000 11,000 186 5,497 2,094 1,255 1,226 2,633 13,867
2001 11,613 257 5,517 2,091 1,266 1,233 2,338 7,744
2002 11,279 184 4,468 1,809 1,187 1,185 2,086 10,153
2003 11,759 205 4,920 1,936 1,293 1,338 2,501 9,971

Note:

Figures for gross contributions are after account is taken of the UK's abatement and the bringing to account of surpluses and deficits in respect of member states contributions in earlier years. Since 1988, member states' contributions exclude 10 per cent. collection costs (25 per cent. from March 2001) in respect of sugar and agricultural levies and customs duties payments—which are deducted before contributions are made to the Community. Prior to 1988 member states made their sugar and agricultural levies and customs duties contributions available in full. The 10 per cent. collection costs were paid from the expenditure side of the Budget to member states and thus scored as receipts.

Sources:

1. 1986 to 1991 Court of Auditors Reports.

2. 1992 and 1993 European Commission Report on own resources system.

3. 1994 to 2003 European Commission Reports on the Allocation of EU Operating Expenditure.

Receipts paid to member states 1986–2003 -- € million
Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland
1986 1,164 1,212 4,988 1,905 2,416 6,324 1,574
1987 985 1,144 4,542 1,877 1,985 6,744 1,438
1988 839 1,286 5,428 1,922 4,012 7,315 1,488
1989 683 1,045 4,580 2,565 3,544 5,677 1,712
1990 990 1,198 4,807 3,034 5,383 6,285 2,261
1991 2,634 1,380 6,597 3,689 6,875 8,153 2,810
1992 3,463 1,330 7,436 4,317 7,536 9,174 2,582
1993 3,728 1,563 7,417 5,106 8,215 10,519 2,970
1994 3,962 1,533 7,901 4,866 7,890 10,086 2,407
1995 4,398 1,640 8,126 4,513 10,898 10,337 2,578
1996 4,167 1,617 10,214 5,187 10,662 12,286 2,998
1997 4,051 1,574 10,274 5,550 11,304 12,405 3,364
1998 3,933 1,514 10,408 5,958 12,450 12,052 3,227
1999 4,180 1,554 9,995 5,027 12,965 13,116 2,910
2000 4,358 1,655 10,375 5,590 10,928 12,454 2,625
2001 4,049 1,348 10,347 5,741 13,648 11,752 2,319
2002 4,493 1,472 11,685 4,694 15,217 12,224 2,600
2003 4,231 1,494 10,637 4,856 15,884 13,429 2,691
Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria Portugal Finland Sweden UK
1986 4,523 7 2,450 n/a 498 n/a n/a 3,387
1987 5,256 12 2,890 n/a 731 n/a n/a 3,122
1988 5,551 14 3,946 n/a 915 n/a n/a 3,254
1989 6,177 8 3,830 n/a 946 n/a n/a 3,214
1990 5,681 15 2,984 n/a 1,103 n/a n/a 3,147
1991 7,311 269 3,000 n/a 2,228 n/a n/a 4,070
1992 8,048 750 2,715 n/a 2,964 n/a n/a 4,446
1993 9,122 904 2,767 n/a 3,367 n/a n/a 4,667
1994 5,394 773 2,483 n/a 3,061 n/a n/a 5,343
1995 5,741 862 2,428 902 3,306 753 761 4,612
1996 7,852 948 2,104 1,661 3,701 1,052 1,313 6,112
1997 8,606 896 2,561 1,387 3,800 1,118 1,197 7,129
1998 8,490 909 2,099 1,330 4,007 975 1,344 6,981
1999 9,081 833 1,788 1,242 3,940 936 1,165 5,919
2000 10,880 908 2,277 1,398 3,257 1,396 1,215 7,896
2001 8,693 900 1,688 1,403 2,947 1,020 1,093 5,938
2002 8,241 975 1,591 1,554 3,873 1,203 1,245 6,168
2003 10,666 1,062 1,996 1,577 4,769 1,347 1,454 6,216

Notes:

1. With effect from 1988, payments to member states no longer include collection costs in respect of sugar and agricultural levies and customs duties. Since 1988 member states have retained 10 per cent. (25 per cent. from March 2001) of their levies and duties before making these contributions available to the Community.

2. Information for 1986 to 1991, which has been taken from ECA reports, may not include full data on the benefit to member states from spending on administration or "other institutions". Figures for 1986 to 1991 are not therefore fully comparable with those for later years.

Sources:

1. 1986 to 1991 Court of Auditors Reports.

2. 1992 and 1993 European Commission Report on own resources system.

3. 1994 to 2003 European Commission Reports on the Allocation of EU Operating Expenditure.

Net contributions by member state 1986–2003 -- € million
Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland
1986 284 -421 3,742 -1,273 -95 562 -1,230
1987 717 -300 4,843 -1,537 -276 586 -1,101
1988 995 -331 6,107 -1,492 -1,334 1,781 -1,159
1989 1,124 -174 6,531 -1,998 31 2,946 -1,341
1990 774 -423 5,550 -2,470 -1,711 1,805 -1,893
1991 -417 -346 8,797 -2,926 -2,295 2,450 -2,357
1992 -1,224 -296 9,562 -3,588 -2,708 1,319 -2,120
1993 -1,333 -357 11,660 -4,095 -3,022 1,027 -2,403
1994 -1,140 -237 13,466 -3,874 -3,172 2,465 -1,768
1995 -1,718 -345 13,198 -3,528 -7,253 1,540 -1,914
1996 -1,416 -248 10,528 -4,081 -6,114 138 -2,316
1997 -1,079 -69 10,944 -4,372 -5,936 781 -2,677
1998 -802 181 10,225 -4,647 -6,697 1,532 -2,242
1999 -984 103 11,074 -3,678 -6,734 878 -1,850
2000 -969 30 11,399 -4,256 -4,482 2,057 -1,551
2001 -518 429 9,380 -4,391 -7,057 2,720 -1,108
2002 -1,475 216 5,897 -3,357 -8,666 1,929 -1,581
2003 -745 283 8,566 -3,322 -8,455 1,725 -1,563
Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria Portugal Finland Sweden UK
1986 195 59 -218 n/a -219 n/a n/a 1,438
1987 -65 62 -524 n/a -390 n/a n/a 2,606
1988 -124 67 -1,150 n/a -515 n/a n/a 2,070
1989 1,429 65 -1,129 n/a -487 n/a n/a 3,354
1990 417 60 -368 n/a -601 n/a n/a 3,387
1991 1,389 160 538 n/a -1,516 n/a n/a 667
1992 232 626 819 n/a -2,126 n/a n/a 2,256
1993 1,143 737 1,264 n/a -2,458 n/a n/a 2,959
1994 2,366 608 1,763 n/a -1,845 n/a n/a 1,074
1995 673 694 1,921 861 -2,441 134 898 4,639
1996 1,153 788 2,332 214 -2,850 -88 657 2,106
1997 61 725 2,276 724 -2,722 -56 1,129 1,799
1998 2,091 693 3,006 756 -2,903 171 1,039 5,556
1999 1,685 639 3,304 812 -2,713 274 1,184 5,165
2000 120 722 3,220 695 -2,002 -171 1,418 5,971
2001 2,920 644 3,829 688 -1,681 213 1,245 1,806
2002 3,039 791 2,876 255 -2,686 -18 841 3,985
2003 1,093 857 2,923 359 -3,476 -9 1,047 3,755

Notes:

1. Negative sign indicates net beneficiary.

2. Information for 1986 to 1991, which has been taken from ECA reports, may not include full data on the benefit to member states from spending on administration or "other institutions". Figures for 1986 to 1991 are not therefore fully comparable with those for later years.

3. Figures in this table should only be regarded as indicative net contributions for the member states.

Source:

Gross contributions minus receipts.

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