The price of Finland’s EU membership rose | Trade magazine

EU membership cost Finland 70 euros per inhabitant last year, says the Ministry of Finance. Finland’s net payment per inhabitant increased by 15 euros.

According to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, Finland’s net contribution to the Union was 394 million euros last year, while it was 309 million euros the following year.

Calculated per inhabitant, Finland’s net contribution rose from 55 to 70 euros, and in relation to gross national income, it rose from 0.11 percent in the second year to 0.14 percent.

The net payment roughly describes the difference between the income a member state receives from the EU and the payments billed to the EU. The figures do not tell about all the benefits of EU membership, such as the open internal market and free movement.

It is a so-called balance calculation, where the sum of the member states’ net payments is zero, i.e. not the difference between the income and expenses received directly by the member state. The calculation does not include the Union’s administrative expenses, and on the income side, the calculation only takes into account contributions from national budgets, and not, for example, customs revenues, which are billed directly to the Union.

The European Commission has published information on money flows between the Union and the member states from last year. The Commission no longer publishes figures on the member states’ net payment position, but the Ministry of Finance has calculated the annual net payments using the Commission’s calculation method.

Luxembourg is the largest net beneficiary per inhabitant

There are differences in the net payments of different years, for example, because the figures show that the last payments of the programs of the previous financial framework period are scheduled for different years, and the programs of the current period start at different rates between member countries. Last year was the fifth of the Union’s seven-year financial framework period (2021–2027).

In addition, net payments are affected by changes in the level of the EU budget between different years and the EU’s income from funding sources other than national membership fees. The amount of this income may vary considerably from year to year.

In the long term, the net positions of the member states reflect the differences in wealth between the member states. As an EU country more prosperous than average, Finland has been among the net payers of the Union budget since 2001.

Last year, the largest net payers in relation to gross national income were Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, and in relation to the number of inhabitants, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. See the detailed figures in the attached fact box.

Last year, the largest net recipients in relation to gross national income were Latvia, Lithuania and Romania, and Luxembourg, Latvia and Lithuania per inhabitant. Luxembourg’s position may come as a surprise, as it is a prosperous country. However, its population is small.

Finland paid 87 million for plastic waste

Last year, Finland received more income from the EU than the previous year, but at the same time Finland’s payments to the EU also increased.

According to the Commission, Finland’s income from the EU increased by 71 million euros to 1,702 million euros last year. In addition, Finland received a total of 679 million euros in income from the EU’s recovery instrument. Finland received 1.27 percent of the funding returned to the EU member states, while the corresponding figure the previous year was 1.33 percent.

Finland’s payments from the national budget to the EU increased by 197 million euros to 2,220 million euros. Finland’s relative contribution to the EU budget was 1.68 percent, while the corresponding figure was 1.67 percent the previous year.

Of this, the share of value-added payment was 390 million euros, the share of payment based on gross national income was 1,600 million euros, and the share of payment based on the amount of unrecycled plastic packaging waste was 87 million euros.

In addition, Finland paid 142 million euros because payment corrections have been granted to some member states.

Last year, Finland collected 189 million euros in customs duties, of which 142 million euros were paid directly to the Union and 47 million euros remained in the state budget as carriage fee income.