Who finances the EU budget?[fr][de] 

Historically the contribution from every member state corresponds to the size of their economy. Countries with struggling economies or inefficient farming sectors and weak infrastructure have received more significant cash injections. Following a re-draft of the budget it is anticipated that some of the new member states from central Europe will become major net recipients of EU funds. 

The EU-15 country that has received the most from the EU budget is Spain, followed by Greece, Portugal and Ireland. They all stand to lose some of the previous funding if the EU wants to help the new member states. No country has so far volunteered to foot the bill. The biggest contributors per head of population have been the Netherlands and Sweden. 

SOURCE: European Commission report (Allocation of 2003 operating expenditure by member state)

*Figure includes deduction for UK rebate