Brussels, 27/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The 2012 Financial Report published on Tuesday 26 November by the European Commission shows that 94% of the total €135.6 billion of the EU 2012 budget went to beneficiaries across Europe, such as researchers, students, small and medium-sized enterprises, towns and regions and NGOs.
In 2012, the EU budget increased funding in areas stimulating growth, creating employment, and investing in research and education: with €9.6 billion last year the cohesion fund contributed to the building of 1,274 km of roads and 950 km of railways; 17,374 EU research funding requests were received last year and €7.8 billion distributed through the 7th framework programme on research.
The report also shows that the EU remains a world leader in humanitarian aid providing assistance to more than 122 million people in over 90 countries beyond EU borders. The share of administrative expenditure (salaries, pensions, buildings, etc.) was unchanged in 2012 at 6% of the total EU budget.
Top beneficiaries. Poland with €15.7 billion (followed by Spain and France) was the biggest recipients of EU funding in absolute terms. When comparing the volume of EU funding received to the gross national income (GNI), Estonia is the top beneficiary followed by Latvia and Lithuania. Germany (followed by France, UK and Spain) remained the top beneficiary of EU funds used in areas such as research and innovation; Poland gained most from cohesion funding. France was the biggest recipient of agricultural funds followed by Germany, Spain and Italy. The Netherlands ranked as the top recipient in the area of freedom, security and justice, while Italy, followed by Belgium, tops the citizenship section of the EU budget.
Member states' contributions to the EU budget. The report provides the information on operating budgetary balances, the difference between what member states contribute to the EU budget and the amount of EU funds they receive. This calculation gives only an incomplete picture of the cost vs benefits of being in the EU as it does not take into account various parameters such as the financial benefits any member state derives from the internal market or from its private companies being awarded contracts in EU funded projects in other countries. The member states affected by the crisis (Greece, Portugal and Spain) are among top net beneficiaries in 2012, whereas the biggest net contributors are Sweden (-0.46%), Denmark (-0.45%) and Germany (-0.44%).
The biggest economies contribute the most to the EU budget. In 2012, the wealth of net contributors (expressed by the GNI indicator) increased by 2.4% on average, while the GNI of net beneficiaries stayed practically the same, due to the economic crisis. As the EU budget has an inbuilt solidarity, this explains why, in some cases, net contributions increased.
Moreover, most member states improved the implementation of cohesion policy funds and other investment programmes allocated to them and received more funds from the agriculture policy; these factors also explain the small increase in contributions from net contributors. (LC/transl.fl)