According to the data, the total correction for 2014 amounts to €9.5 billion, of which the bulk relates to adjustments to the GNI resource. Combined with an amending budget to reduce the initially forecast contributions for the ongoing year, the total sum does not represent extra funding for the EU budget, but a redistribution of burden sharing among Member States on the basis of the updated GNI and VAT figures. In fact, the entire exercise results in the reduction of total national contributions to the EU budget by €420 million, thanks to higher than initially forecast collection of traditional own resources.
The size of the correction is significant in comparison with previous years: it was €360 million in 2013, while the largest previous correction was in 2007, when it amounted to €3.8 billion. On the basis of the revised GNI and VAT bases, nine Member States have to increase their contributions, while the remaining 19 EU countries will get a reimbursement.
[…] Most recently, the issue was high on the agenda. In late 2014, the European Commission claimed supplementary payments from several Member States, while others were […]