Brussels, 15/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 April, the European Commission adopted a preliminary draft amending budget to reduce member states' contributions paid to the 2008 budget by €1.529 billion. The surplus (the difference between all EU budget revenue and spending) at the end of the 2007 financial year was at a historic low, amounting to just over 1% of the total agreed Community spending for 2007 (€113.846 billion). The proposal allowing member state contributions to be reduced has still to be adopted by the two arms of budgetary authority, the Council and Parliament.
The Commission specifies that the budget surplus in 2007 dropped by 90% compared to 2000, with a steady 17% decrease from 2006. The 2007 surplus will be returned to member states by reducing their contributions to the 2008 budget by as much. Germany's contribution thus falls by €300 million, ahead of the United Kingdom (€258 million), France (€234 million), Italy (€191 million), Spain (€131 million), the Netherlands (€70 million), Sweden and Belgium (€42 million), Poland (€38 million), Austria (€33 million), Denmark (€29 million), Greece (€26 million), Finland €22 million), Ireland (€21 million), Portugal (€19 million), Romania (€16 million), Czech Republic (€15 million), Hungary (€12 million), Slovakia (€7 million), Slovenia, Luxembourg and Bulgaria (€4 million), Latvia and Lithuania (€3 million), Cyprus and Estonia (€2 million) and, finally, Malta (€1 million). (L.C.)