How much does the Netherlands pay into the EU budget and how much does it receive?

The Netherlands pays more into the EU budget than it receives in grants. In other words, it is a net contributor.

In discussions about the MFF and the annual EU budget, one of the main topics is how the Dutch contributions to the EU and its receipts from the EU work out on balance. It is as a result of this calculation that the Netherlands is classified as a ‘net contributor’.

The Netherlands’ contribution to the EU is the sum of:

• traditional own resources of the EU (such as customs duties);
• a percentage of VAT resources;
• a contribution based on gross national income (GNI-based contribution);
• a contribution based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste.

A factor that complicates calculation of the Netherlands’ net payment position is that there has long been a difference of opinion between the Netherlands and the European Commission on the calculation method.

Unlike the Netherlands used to do, the Commission does not recognise traditional own resources (customs duties) as a member state contribution. Member states, it argues, collect the duties charged on goods imported from outside the EU on behalf of the EU.

Since many goods are imported through the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands collects a considerable amount of import duties. To give an impression, in 2024 the Netherlands collected import duties to an amount of €3.1 billion, more than 40% of the Netherlands’ total contribution in that year (source: § 3.5.2 of the Central Government Annual Financial Report 2024).

Until recently the Netherlands applied a different – accounting – method that includes net customs duties (i.e. customs duties net of the fee the Netherlands receives for collecting the duties) as a contribution to the EU.

The Netherlands is a net contributor under both definitions, but there is a significant difference in the positon. In 2012, 2020 and 2023 the Court of Audit calculated the net position of the Netherlands and the other member states using both methods.

The Netherlands has not returned to this difference of opinion in recent years. For the first time, article 3.1 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ budget for 2024 does not include customs duties as a contribution to the EU, but presents them separately as customs duties under article 3.4. The Central Government Annual Financial Report states that in a sense the Netherlands’ budget for customs duties is no more than a conduit and the Netherlands collects the duties on behalf of the European budget.

Figure 1: Focus on the Netherlands’ net payment position

In fact, the Netherlands is a net contributor under both definitions, but the size of the net contribution differs considerably depending on the definition. In 2012, 2020 and 2024, the Netherlands Court of Audit showed how the calculations based on the two definitions panned out for the Netherlands (and the other EU member states).

More information

• Financieel jaarverslag (in Dutch) - Details of contributions to the EU budget in the Central Government Annual Financial Report
• EU Trend Report 2012, Netherlands Court of Audit - Net payment position in 2010 (09-02-2012)
• Focus on the Netherlands’ net payment position, Netherlands Court of Audit report with calculations of net payment positions in 2014-2019 (14-10-2020)
• Net payment position update 2022, Netherlands Court of Audit factsheet with update for 2020, 2021 and 2022 (15-12-2023)

Approximately 60% of EU revenue consists of the EU’s own resources (2023). Since 2021, the EU has also borrowed money. More than 27% of the EU-budget in 2023 consisted of loans   Other revenue consisted of contributions and repayments by member states in the context of EU agreements and programmes, and contributions by non-EU countries to EU activities and programmes.

Spending from the EU budget amounted to approximately €191 billion in 2023. The remaining €48 billion related to grants awarded under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, for which the EU raises funds on the capital market.

Multiannual Financial Framework

The EU’s annual budget must be in keeping with the agreements made by the member states on the seven-year framework regulating the EU’s annual budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This framework sets the EU budget’s expenditure ceiling for a minimum of five but generally seven years and lays down how resources will be distributed across EU priorities, and how much each member state is required to contribute to the budget. The MFF determines to a large extent how much money member states will receive and contribute in the years ahead. Budget negotiations are complex and often protracted.

The European Council, consisting of the heads of state and government of the EU member states, agreed to a new MFF for 2021-2027 on 17 December 2020. They agreed to a package amounting to €1,074.3 billion. The Council’s decision followed a vote on the MFF in the European Parliament on 16 December 2020. The funds will be available as from 1 January 2021. The European Council and the European Parliament reached agreement on 18 December 2020 on the Next Generation EU plan to recover from the COVID-19 crisis. The recovery plan amounts to €750 billion. Together, these two agreements total €1,824.3 billion.

At the end of 2024 the EU had awarded approximately €300 billion grants and loans for the member states’ recovery and resilience plans , an important component of Next Generation EU. The Dutch government expects to receive at least €5.4 billion from the RRF between 2024 and 2026.

By the end of April 2025, the Netherlands had received more than €2.5 billion from the first 2 payment requests. The government expects to receive the remaining €2.9 billion in the coming years. There are risks, however, that the Netherlands will not be granted the funds; the risks are not explained in the budget or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ annual report. For further information, see our reports (in Dutch), Accountability Audit 2024 Finance (Resultaten verantwoordingsonderzoek 2024 ministerie van Financiën) and Foreign Affairs (Resultaten verantwoordingsonderzoek 2024 ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken).

Own Resources Decision

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ budget for 2021 shows the financial consequences of the agreement on the new Multiannual Financial Framework.

An Own Resources Decision (ORD) is usually taken when a new MFF is agreed. The ORD lays downs provisions to determine how own resources are raised in order to finance the Union’s annual budget. The decision has to be ratified by the 27 EU member states. 
The ORD has been amended, partly because the contribution rebate system has also been modified and a new own resource has been introduced (a levy on plastic waste). Member states therefore have to pay an additional levy to the EU, depending on the amounts of non-recycled plastic packaging waste that they produce each year. In addition, the ORD provides for the loan system introduced by Next Generation EU. The own resources decision came into force on 1 June 2021 with retroactive effect to 1 January 2021.

More information

• EU budget: European Commission welcomes the adoption of the EU's long-term budget for 2021-2027 - Press release, European Commission, approval of NextGenerationEU recovery plan and Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 (17-12-2020)
• Financieel jaarverslag 2021 (in Dutch) - Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ budget for 2021 (15-09-2020)
• The EU long-term budget
• Own Resources Decision for 2021 (PDF) (01-06-2021)
• Annual reports concerning the 2023 financial year (European Court of Auditors (10-10-2024)
• What is the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)?

Audits of the corona recovery fund by other EU supreme audit institutions

The audit reports released by the European Court of Auditors and the EU member states’ Supreme Audit Institutions concerning the Recovery and Resilience Facility (the corona recovery fund) and related topics (in Dutch or English) are listed below. 

European Court of Auditors

• Special report 07/2023: Design of the Commission’s control system for the RRF (2023)
• Review 01/2023: EU financing through cohesion policy and the Recovery and Resilience Facility: A comparative analysis (2023)
• Special report 21/2022: The Commission’s assessment of national recovery and resilience plans – Overall appropriate but implementation risks remain (2022)

• The Recovery and Resilience Facility’s performance monitoring framework (2023)

• Double funding from the EU budget – Control systems lack essential elements to mitigate the increased risk resulting from the RRF model of financing not linked to costs (2024)

• Green transition: Unclear contribution from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (2024)

• Absorption of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (2024)

• Labour market reforms in the national recovery and resilience plans (2025)

• Support from the Recovery and Resilience Facility for the digital transition in the EU member states (2025)

• Performance-orientation, accountability and transparency – lessons to be learned from the weaknesses of the RRF (2025)

Belgium

• Progress of the Flemish Resilience Recovery Plan (2024)
• Steering by the French-speaking Community of European funds for the recovery and resilience plan (2024)

Finland

• Implementation of the recovery and resilience plan (2023)

France

• Preparation and implementation of the recovery plan (2022)

Germany

• On the potential impact of joint borrowing of the member states of the European Union on the federal budget (Recovery Fund) (2021)
• Financing the Recovery Fund via Green Bonds of the European Union (2022)
• Payment obligations and risks for the federal budget linked to debt servicing for the EU Recovery Fund (2024)

Italy

• Report I: Semester II (2021)

Latvia

• What challenges do we face in drafting and implementing Latvia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan? (2022)

Lithuania

• Achievement of milestones and targets of the Lithuania‘s Recovery and Resilience Plan (2022)
• Management of risks to the fulfilment of milestones and targets of Lithuania’s recovery and resilience plan (2024)

Weblog post by college member Ewout Irrgang, 14-10-2020

Why don't we know how much added value the EU generates?