Not true. In fact, the Confederation of British Industry estimates that EU membership is worth £3000 a year to every British family — a return of nearly £10 for each £1 we pay in. And the budget for the whole EU is just 1% of GDP, compared to about 49% spent by national governments. That’s just 2% of our public spending each year. Evidence
Each country pays a contribution to the budget proportional to its wealth, so wealthier countries pay more. The exact amount varies each year, but over the seven-year cycle 2007-2013 our net annual contribution was £3.8 billion, or about £63 per person. The UK’s contribution is actually much lower than other similar-sized economies such as Germany and France, partly because we get a special rebate. Evidence
This contribution must be weighed against the financial benefits of our access to the single market. In 2011, the UK government estimated this to be between £30 billion and £90 billion per year — so a return on investment of between 800% and 2370%. Evidence
Many thousands of projects in the UK benefit each year. Detailed lists
