EU budget figures for 2004 show that for all 10 new Member States, the 2004 accounting budgetary balance was visibly and significantly better than in 2003, when they were outside the EU.
At the same time it did not provoke a significant increase of contribution from EU-15.
Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaité commented: “The report shows clearly that enlargement was a win-win situation for all members of the Union”.
The overall budget for 2004 included EUR 92 bln allocated to recipients in Member States, with each country received funds for regional policies, agriculture, competitiveness, jobs and research and EUR 7.5 bln which went to countries outside of the Union or benefited more than one Member State.
The main beneficiaries among Member States remain the same as in 2003.
The largest recipient of EU funds in 2004 was Spain (EUR 16.4 bln) ahead of the the populous member states, France (EUR 12.9 bln), Germany (EUR 11.7 bln), Italy (EUR 10.4 bln), and the UK (EUR 7.1 bln). Spain is the largest recipient of funds under structural operations, followed by Germany, Italy and Portugal.
Funds for new member states have only started to flow. Poland (EUR 2.7 bln) comes at the 10th place of EU-25. All new Member States recorded a positive net balance, amounting to EUR 2.9 bln for 2004, an increase of EUR 1.3 bln compared with 2003, before they joined.
In terms of percent of gross national income (GNI), Greece (3.52% of national GNI) and Portugal (3.35%) received the most funds, followed by Lithuania (2.81%), Estonia (2.50%) and Latvia (2.46%).
Competitiveness
Benefits spread across all Member States. The focus of spending is progressively shifting towards policies linked to competitiveness. The shares of different policy headings in 2004 have changed in comparison with previous year.
Funds allocated to Member States for structural operations covering cohesion and regional development increased substantially from EUR 28.5 bln to EUR 34.1 bln (+19.8%), as well as for internal policies including internal market and research (from EUR 4.9 bln in 2003 to EUR 6 bln in 2004).
Agriculture and rural development allocations to Member States constituted 47.5 % (EUR 43.6 bln) of the total allocated expenditure in 2004, showing a decrease from 54.1 % (EUR 44.4 bln) in 2003. In agriculture main beneficiaries remained the same. In absolute terms, France received the largest allocations, followed by Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Under internal policies, Germany received the largest amount, followed by France, Belgium, the UK and Italy.
EU administrative expenditure was heavily concentrated. Most of the funds went to Belgium and Luxembourg, two of the seats of European Union institutions.
National contributions (comprising VAT- and GNI-based contributions) were the largest source of revenue for the EU budget and totalled EUR 82.9 bln in 2004. The remainder came from so-called traditional own resources (customs and agricultural duties), the surplus from 2003, and other revenues .
The report analyses in detail the allocation by Member State of EU expenditure by policy heading and sub-categories of expenditure. It gives actual implementation figures for the 10 new Member States. It includes complete updated harmonised series on allocated expenditure, revenue and budgetary balances from 1992 to 2004. The Financial Report 2004 shows benefits flowing from this expenditure and was published in May 2005.
The report on allocated expenditure is available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/budget/agenda2000/reports_en.htm
The Financial Report 2004 is available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/budget/pdf/execution/execution/financialreport04/rap_fin_en.pdf
