How Much Does the European Union Cost Britain? Given the attack on our way of life that the EU now represents, and given the obvious gravity of the threat to our institutions, a careful cost-benefit analysis has become essential. In his study of How Much Does the European Union Cost Britain? Gerard Batten,the UK Independence Party’s MEP for London, sets out some key facts. As he explains, the costs are both direct and indirect. The direct costs are heavily against our country and have been so from the start. As Batten shows, the UK has been a net contributor to the EU Budget in 37 of the 38 years (1973 to 2010 inclusive) that it has participated in the so-called “European construction”. He arrives at a figure of almost £80 billion of net contributions since 1973, but this is adding up the numbers in the values of their day. If the numbers were translated into the money of 2011,the total would undoubtedly be over £200 billion, equivalent to about a quarter of our national debt. Since our membership of the EU is becoming increasingly unpopular and we face a crisis in our public finances, our politicians ought logically to cut back our payments to other European countries. On the contrary, because of concessions foolishly made by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2005, our net contribution is about to increase sharply to between £8 billion and £9 billion a year. But the direct costs are only part of the story. Indeed, in terms of their adverse impact on our standard of living, the indirect costs are almost certainly much larger. We have compliance costs in implementing the thousands of rules and regulations, many of them downright silly, forced upon us by the European Commission. We are also poorer because resources are mis-allocated or wasted as a result of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. Finally, we are now incurring a range of contingent liabilities by joining in financial rescue packages for the weaker members of the Eurozone, such as Ireland and Greece. We are incurring these liabilities, although we have had the good sense not to belong to the Eurozone and have kept our own currency. There is no doubt that Britain is poorer, much poorer, because it belongs to the EU. We would be better off out, as – once again – a fully independent and sovereign nation. Batten emphasises that two European nations outside the EU – Norway and Switzerland – are now richer than their neighbours. The bullet points below highlight the main findings that have emerged from this study. They paint a picture of ever increasing costs of EU membership and an ever increasing trade deficit with EU countries. • Britain’s contributions to the EU Budget are rising by 33% Gross, and an astonishing 97% Net, for the budget period 2007-2013 compared to 2000-2006. • For the current Budget period (2007-2013) Britain will have made estimated total contributions of £105.726 billion Gross or £42.026 billion Net (excluding the UK rebate and EU spending in the UK). • Britain’s annual contribution to the EU Budget for 2010 is estimated at £15.247 billion Gross or £6.883 billion Net. • From 1973 to 2010 Britain will have made total accumulated contributions to the EU Budget of £257.648 billion Gross or £77.851 billion Net. • The Common Agricultural Policy costs Britain an estimated £16.7 billion per annum. • EU over-regulation on business costs Britain an estimated £48.7 billion per annum. • From 1973 (the year Britain joined the EU) to 2009 the UK has an accumulated trade deficit with EU member states of over £438 billion. • The estimated amount lost in fraud from the EU budget each year (£6.3 billion) is about 92% of the UK’s current Net contribution (£6.8 billion). • For 2010 the estimate of the combined annual direct and indirect costs of EU membership will amount to £85.3 billion Gross or £77 billion Net. This equates to: Gross - Net £7.1 billion per month - £6.4 billion per month £1.6 billion per week - £1.5 billion per week £233.7 million per day - £211 million per day £9.7 million per hour - £8.8 million per hour £162,291 per minute - £146,499 per minute This is the equivalent for every man, woman and child in Britain of £1,380 Gross or £1,246 Net per annum: or looked at another way, the equivalent for every British tax-payer of £2,788 Gross or £2,516 Net per annum. In this time of economic crisis, Government cut-backs in public spending, financial austerity, fear of job losses and financial hardship for many, it is absolute madness to be wasting billions of pounds every year on the ideological project of creating a United States of Europe that no one wants except an out-of-touch political elite. We might as well burn the money on a bonfire! This information was taken from UKIP Report written by Gerard Batten, Founder member of the UK Independence Party.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 14:20:20 +0000
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