UK has dodged a £30 billion EU bullet for next year, thanks to Brexit
EU Commission’s latest proposed budget for 2024 is breathtakingly huge
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023
Facts4EU summarises how the Commissioners would have spent our money
On Wednesday the unelected EU Commissioners in Brussels announced their draft budget for next year (2024). The sums will make many readers’ eyes water. Over €300 billion for next year, with 38% of it borrowed.
In this report the Facts4EU team summarises how Brexit has lifted another huge financial burden from the British public.
“The Commission has today proposed an annual EU budget of €189.3 billion for 2024. The budget will be complemented by an estimated €113 billion in payments for grants under NextGenerationEU, the EU's post-pandemic recovery instrument.”
- EU Commission statement, 07 Jun 2023
This proposed budget is for the priorities of the Brussels bureaucrats
When looking at the breathtaking sums below it is important to bear in mind three things, had the UK still been a member country.
- British MPs could not have scrutinised or voted on this budget
- The policies have been decided by bureaucrats in Brussels, not by elected representatives in the UK for British interests
- Part of this budget will be spent in other countries, with no money coming back to the UK
“The draft budget for 2024 continues to provide key funding to the EU's political priorities as planned. Green and digital spending will continue to be prioritised to make Europe more resilient and fit for the future.
“The draft budget 2024 directs funds to where they can make the greatest difference, in line with the most crucial recovery needs of the EU Member States and our partners around the world.”
- EU Commission statement, 07 Jun 2023
At present this is the draft budget and it will be scaled back by the EU Council as it always is, but the eventual sum will still be eye-watering.
The Rt Hon Sir John Redwood, MP for Wokingham, gave us his comments on our report
The EU is going on a spending and borrowing spree now the UK has left. Once again we should thank Facts4EU for highlighting this and reminding us how much more tax we would need to raise to pay the bills if we had stayed in.
The EU plans borrowing of at least 1 trillion Euros where our share would have meant a big increase in our state debt as members are jointly liable to pay the interest and make repayments. When we were in the EU they kept the budgets under better control but we still had to make a big annual payment which has now stopped.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
The extraordinary largesse of the EU Commission with other people’s money
The Commission’s proposed budget for 2024
- €53.8 billion for the Common Agricultural Policy
- €1.1 billion for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund
- €47.9 billion for regional development and cohesion
- €11.4 billion under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument
- €2.1 billion for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance to aspiring member countries
- €1.7 billion for Humanitarian Aid
- €13.6 billion for research and innovation, of which €12.8 billion for Horizon Europe
- €2.7 billion for the Connecting Europe Facility to improve cross-border infrastructure
- €1.3 billion for the Digital Europe Programme
- €348 million for InvestEU for key priorities (research and innovation, twin green and digital transition, the health sector, and strategic technologies)
- €2.1 billion for the European Space Programme
- €10.3 billion for people, social cohesion, and values, of which €3.96 billion for the rising borrowing costs for NGEU
- €3.7 billion for Erasmus+
- €332 million “to support artists and creators around Europe”
- €215 million “to promote justice, rights, and values”
- €745 million for the LIFE programme to support climate change mitigation and adaptation
- €1.5 billion for the Just Transition Fund (‘green transition’)
- €1.1 billion for the Integrated Border Management Fund
- €874 million for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).
- €1.7 billion for migration-related spending to support migrants and asylum-seekers
- €638 million for capability development and research under the European Defence Fund
- €241 million for “Military Mobility”
- €260 million for the new short-term defence instrument
- €343 million to support the production of ammunition
- €602 million for the Single Market Programme
- €200 million for work on anti-fraud, taxation, and customs
- €754 million for EU4Health
- €230 million to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU)
- €726 million for security, of which €315 million for the Internal Security Fund
- €213 million for secure satellite connections
[Source : EU Commission, 07 Jun 2023.]
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Approx £30bn net cost avoided, thanks to Brexit
In our detailed research over the past seven years the UK was paying for between 12.5% - 14.5% of the EU Commission’s expenditure, depending on the budget area in question.
If we take an average of 13.5% then the UK would have been in for around £35 billion (GBP) of the EU’s total for next year. Only a small part of this would have been spent in the UK. In ballpark figures we estimate the UK would have been in for a net bill of circa £30 billion.
Observations
In our analysis of the EU Commission’s proposed budget for 2024 one thing was clear. Very few of the Commission’s priorities are those of the British people, or indeed of MPs in Westminster. Despite this, the United Kingdom would have been footing a significant part of this EU bill and would have got back very little from it.
We suggest that Rejoiners review the breakdown we have provided above and tell the British public why they think they should be paying for the policy priorities of an unelected foreign power.
Thanks to Brexit we have dodged another bullet.
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[ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 09 June 2023
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