Graham Charles Lear
4 min readSep 22, 2017

There are only a few country’s in the EU who pay their way.

There are only a few country’s in the EU who pay their way. Britain is one Germany is another. However I just wonder if people actually know what each country in the EU all 28 seeing as the UK has not actually left yet pay in and what they get back.

It makes interesting reading and the figures will shock you if you don’t know.

These are the country’s in the EU Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

This what each country pays into the EU and what they then get back

Total Austrian contribution to the EU budget: € 2.529 billion. Total EU spending in Austria: € 1.787 billion

Total Belgian contribution to the EU budget: € 3.692 billion. Total EU spending in Belgium: € 6.952 billion

Total Bulgarian contribution to the EU budget: € 0.424 billion. Total EU spending in Bulgaria: € 2.730 billion

Total Croatian contribution to the EU budget — € 0.357 billion. Total EU spending in Croatia — € 0.605 billion

Total Cypriot contribution to the EU budget: € 0.212 billion. Total EU spending in Cyprus: € 0.203 billion

Total Czech contribution to the EU budget: € 1.315 billion. Total EU spending in the Czech Republic: € 7.075 billion

Total Danish contribution to the EU budget: € 2.191 billion. Total EU spending in Denmark: € 1.529 billion

Total Estonian contribution to the EU budget: € 0.185 billion. Total EU spending in Estonia: € 0.443 billion

Total Finnish contribution to the EU budget: € 1.729 billion. Total EU spending in Finland: € 1.330 billion.

Total French contribution to the EU budget — € 19.013 billion. Total EU spending in France — € 14.468 billion

Total German contribution to the EU budget — € 24.283 billion. Total EU spending in Germany — € 11.013 billion

Total Greek contribution to the EU budget — € 1.206 billion. Total EU spending in Greece — € 6.210 billion

Total Hungarian contribution to the EU budget — € 0.946 billion. Total EU spending in Hungary — € 5.629 billion

Total Irish contribution to the EU budget: € 1.558 billion. Total EU spending in Ireland: € 2.009 billion

Total Italian contribution to the EU budget — € 14.232 billion. Total EU spending in Italy — € 12.338 billion

Total Latvian contribution to the EU budget — € 0.206 billion. Total EU spending in Latvia — € 0.982 billion

Total Maltese contribution to the EU budget: € 0.092 billion. Total EU spending in Malta: € 0.134 billion

Total Dutch contribution to the EU budget: € 5.759 billion. Total EU spending in the Netherlands: € 2.359 billion

Total Polish contribution to the EU budget — € 3.718 billion. Total EU spending in Poland — € 13.358 billion

Total Portuguese contribution to the EU budget — € 1.529 billion. Total EU spending in Portugal — € 2.595 billion

Total Romanian contribution to the EU budget — € 1.319 billion. Total EU spending in Romania — € 6.538 billion

Total Spanish contribution to the EU budget — € 8.772 billion. Total EU spending in Spain — € 13.696 billion

Total Swedish contribution to the EU budget: € 3.513 billion. Total EU spending in Sweden: € 1.468 billion

And finally. Total UK contribution to the EU budget: € 18.209 billion. Total EU spending in the UK: € 7.458 billion.

As you can see only ten countrys pay into the European Union more than what the European Union pays back to them

1 Total German contribution to the EU budget — € 24.283 billion. Total EU spending in Germany — € 11.013 billion.

2 Total UK contribution to the EU budget: € 18.209 billion. Total EU spending in the UK: € 7.458 billion.

3 Total French contribution to the EU budget — € 19.013 billion. Total EU spending in France — € 14.468 billion.

4 Total Italian contribution to the EU budget — € 14.232 billion. Total EU spending in Italy — € 12.338 billion.

5 Total Dutch contribution to the EU budget: € 5.759 billion. Total EU spending in the Netherlands: € 2.359 billion.

6 Total Austrian contribution to the EU budget: € 2.529 billion. Total EU spending in Austria: € 1.787 billion.

7 Swedish contribution to the EU budget: € 3.513 billion. Total EU spending in Sweden: € 1.468 billion

8 Total Cypriot contribution to the EU budget: € 0.212 billion. Total EU spending in Cyprus: € 0.203 billion.

9 Total Danish contribution to the EU budget: € 2.191 billion. Total EU spending in Denmark: € 1.529 billion

10 Total Finnish contribution to the EU budget: € 1.729 billion. Total EU spending in Finland: € 1.330 billion.

All the rest are propped up by ten countrys

Poland who only pays € 3.718 billion is by far the biggest receiver of EU money receiving a staggering € 13.358 billion from them.

While Germany who pays in € 24.283 billion receives back € 11.013 billion and the UK pays € 18.209 billion. and gets back € 7.458 billion. France is a surprise because on the face of it they pay in quite a lot € 19.013 billion. which is more than the UK until you see they receive back a whopping €14.468 billion.

When you look at it in the cold light of day we can see its not as clear cut as we think it is.

Graham Charles Lear

What is life without a little controversy in it? Quite boring and sterile would be my answer.