Finland set a new record last year as a net contributor to the European Union.
The Ministry of Finance reveals that Finland paid EUR 628 million more into EU coffers in 2005 than it got back. In 2004 the net contribution was EUR 104 million. The figures also take into account flows of money that are not part of the budget, such as research funding and customs payments.
Last year Finland paid EUR 562 million more to the EU from its national budget than it got back.
EU membership last year cost Finland EUR 320 million more than had been forecast in the national budget. For instance, Finland got EUR 30 million less from the EU Structural Fund, and EUR 50 million less from the Social Fund than it had expected.
The largest single reason behind the sharp rise in the net contribution was a technical change: the schedule for paying EUR 359 million in agricultural subsidies was postponed from late 2005 to early 2006.
Nevertheless, the enlargement of the EU has already started to strengthen Finland’s role in financing the EU, although it is not yet clear how much of Finland’s net contribution is attributable to the enlargement.
This year’s net contribution is expected to be about EUR 400 million. This is more than in any previous year, if last year’s exceptionally high figure is not taken into account.
"Changes in the value of money also have an impact over a period of a few years, but enlargement is also getting to be felt", says Paavo Kytömäki, an official at the Ministry of Finance.
Nearly one tenth of Finland’s EU payments - EUR 127 million - went into the controversial UK membership rebate.
