EU expansion set to cost the bloc 250 billion euros: Report

Internal calculations have shown that expanding the European Union (EU) to include nine countries including Ukraine is going to cost existing members more than 256 billion euros (USD 268), reported Financial Times. This would mean that expansion of the EU will turn many countries that get net financial benefits of the EU will turn into net contributors.

The numbers have been disclosed as gathering of European Political Community draws closer. Fifty-one European leaders will gather in Granada in Spain. The leaders will discuss about the fate of nine countries that are in line to join the EU.

“All member states will have to pay more to and receive less from the EU budget; many member states who are currently net receivers will become net contributors,” said the paper by the secretariat of the EU council, as reported by Financial Times.

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The paper reportedly said that if Ukraine is included in the EU, it will be eligible to receive 186 billion euros over seven years. This would be in addition to the lower estimate of the amount needed for reconstructing Ukraine. This amount was pegged at 400 billion euros.

The Guardian quoted an unnamed diplomat of the EU who said that he opposed a gradual membership process to the bloc.

“Membership is membership. Full stop,” he said.

The Guardian quoted another diplomat who said that budget of the bloc is likely to be the single most contentious subject that needed to be settled by 2027. At the time, the next financial cycle would begin.

The leaked document reportedly estimates that the budget of the EU would increase by 21 per cent and hit 1.47 trillion mark in case all nine countries are to join.

The amount spent on agriculture would also change. Ukraine would be entitled to 95 billion euros over seven years. The current member state will have to consider this.

A fund called the cohesion fund which offers monetary help for infrastructure development in less developed countries will also feel the heat after expansion of the EU. As the financial formula stands right now, countries like Estonia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Lithuania and the Czech Republic won't be eligible for the funds.

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