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.

The European Commission does not consider the traditional own resources (customs duties) to be member state contributions. These are duties that the EU obliges member states to charge on imports of goods from outside the EU. Due to the relatively high value of the goods imported through the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands collects a large amount of customs duties. To give an impression: in 2022 custom duties totalled up to € 3,8 billion, accounting for one third of all contributions to the EU (source: § 3.4.1 Central Government Annual Financial Report).

The Netherlands takes a different view and considers net customs duties, i.e. after deduction of perception costs, as forming part of its contribution to the EU.

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, and again in 2020, 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)

The EU member states finance approximately 92% of the EU budget. Since 2021, the EU has also borrowed money. Nearly 25% of the overall EU budget for 2021 consisted of loans. In 2024 EU budget totalled around €189 billion. 

The vast majority of these resources are used to achieve certain objectives, together with the member states. Most of the funds therefore flow back to the member states in the form of EU grants; nearly 60% of resources are spent on funds managed by the EU in conjunction with the member states. The size of the financial flows to and from the member states varies from one member state to another, depending largely on the relative prosperity of each member state and the objectives of the various EU funds.

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.

In 2022, around 20% of the EU’s expenditure was related to the member states’ recovery and resilience plans (also known as RRF plans), an important component of Next Generation EU. The proportion of expenditure on the RRF plans is expected to increase further in the years ahead. The Dutch government expects to receive at least €5.4 billion from the RRF between 2024 and 2026.
Each year the EU prepares a budget, based on the Multiannual Financial Framework. The budget also has to be approved by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.

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 financial year 2022, European Court of Auditors (5-10-2023)

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

The recovery and resilience facility (‘corona recovery fund’) was audited by the European Court of Auditors and various supreme audit institutions in EU member states in 2021-2022. These audits are listed below, together with details of related topics. 

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)

Belgium

• Progress of the Flemish Resilience Relaunch Plan - Evaluation report on the information quality of the fifth progress report by the Flemish Government (2023)

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)

Italy

• Report I: Semester II (2021)

Latvia

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

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

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