Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2014
331. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Finance the total cost, including breakdown, of Ireland's financial contributions to the European Union, including the Commission, Parliament, Central Bank, Court of Justice, Council and any other body functioning under EU auspices; the total cost of each of these bodies; and Ireland's payments as a percentage of the total costs. [41876/14]
View answerIreland's contribution to the EU Budget is an obligation of EU membership and is a charge on the Central Fund under national legislation. The contribution formula for the EU Budget is comprised of Traditional Own Resources (customs duties), a VAT-based payment and a residual balancing component paid in accordance with each Member State's share of EU Gross National Income (GNI). Ireland's contribution varies each year. However, as an indication, Ireland contributed €1,726m to the EU budget in 2013. Figures for earlier years can be found in table 10 of the Budget and Economic Statistics bulletin, published annually by my Department.
The following table gives the breakdown of the budgeted administrative cost of each of the institutions, as listed by the Commission in the adopted budget for 2014. The Commission calculated that Ireland would finance approximately 1.14% of the 2014 EU budget based on information at the time of publication.
It should be noted that the actual cost of the institutions to member states is slightly less than indicated below. This is because the taxes, deductions and pension contributions of the persons working within the institution are netted off against its expenditure.
It should also be noted that the ECB is not funded from the EU Budget.
Administrative Expenditure of the EU Institutions, EU Budget 2014
|
- |
Financial Contributions |
|
Institution |
Administrative expenditure (Payment appropriations in 000's of €) |
|
European Parliament |
1,755,632 |
|
European Council and Council |
534,202 |
|
Commission |
3,267,245 |
|
Court of Justice of the European Union |
355,368 |
|
Court of Auditors |
133,498 |
|
European Economic and Social Committee |
128,559 |
|
Committee and Regions |
87,637 |
|
European Ombudsman |
9,857 |
|
European data-protection Supervisor |
8,267 |
|
European External Action Service |
518,628 |
