According to calculations by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) agency, Germany contributed a net total of around €25.1 billion to EU Community spending in 2021. At the same time, according to the government in Berlin, Germany benefits the most from the EU single market, gaining more than five times as much from it – 132 billion euros a year.
Asked by DPA about Germany’s specific contributions to the EU budget, the European Commission declined to comment on the figures. The office has not published balance sheets for some time because it fears that the figures could be politically instrumentalized – for example, by opponents of the EU in net contributor countries. In addition, the Commission points out that the benefits of EU membership cannot be deduced from budgetary data alone. It argues, for example, that the financial benefits that exporting countries such as Germany derive from the free movement of goods are left out of the equation.
According to calculations by the DPA agency, Germany contributed around €25.1 billion net to EU Community expenditure in 2021. At the same time, as the government in Berlin reports, Germany benefits the most from the EU single market, gaining more than five times as much from it – €132 billion per year.
This is recognized in Berlin.
“No European economy benefits as much from the EU single market as the German economy,”
reads the German federal government’s website. Germany pays a lot of money into the EU basket but benefits even more.
According to figures published on the German government website in February 2022, the European single market “increases per capita income by €1,000 per year”. In addition, the single market guarantees sales channels for German companies. According to the government in Berlin, 67.1 percent of German exports went to the EU single market in 2020.
Furthermore, the German government website added that around 28 percent of German jobs depend on exports and, thus, on the EU internal market.
From Berlin: Lemanczyk
Compiled by Roma Bojanowicz
For the original article in Polish, please see: https://forsal.pl/swiat/unia-europejska/artykuly/8626375,niemcy-daja-budzet-ue-25-mld-euro-otrzymuja-132-mld-euro-rocznie.html
