The European Union has an annual budget of approximately € 130 billion, funded by member states’ contributions. Most of the EU budget is spent in the member states. Every year, the European Court of Auditors audits whether the expenditure was incurred in accordance with the rules ('regularly'). To date, it has never issued a positive statement because too many errors are made in the expenditure in the member states. The Netherlands Court of Audit has therefore been keeping a critical eye on EU finances over the past eleven years. Read more about EU budget accountability. Read more about EU budget accountability.
EU revenue and expenditure
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in millions of euros) | 95,434.4 | 93,468.6 | 103,511.9 | 107,090.6 | 108,423.0 | 117,563.0 | 121,584.4 | 117,625.6 | 127,795.3 | 130,000.0 |
| Expenditure (in millions of euros) | 85,144.5 | 90,557.5 | 100,139.4 | 104,835.2 | 106,575.5 | 113,953.3 | 116,544.5 | 118,361.0 | 122,230.7 | 129,394.9 |
Trend
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (percent) | 1.2 | -2.1 | 10.7 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 8.4 | 3.4 | -3.3 | 8.6 | 1.7 |
| Expenditure (percent) | 6.4 | 6.4 | 10.6 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 6.9 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 5.9 |
Revenue by budget heading, per year (in millions of euros)
| Budget heading | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAT-based own resource | 22,388.2 | 21,260.1 | 13,912.2 | 16,018.0 | 17,206.2 | 19,440.8 | 19,007.7 | 12,796.2 | 12,470.5 | 14,798.9 |
| GNI-based own resource | 45,947.6 | 51,235.2 | 68,982.0 | 70,860.6 | 70,132.1 | 73,914.7 | 74,477.3 | 81,982.5 | 91,066.8 | 88,414.3 |
| Traditional own resources | 9,214.0 | 10,857.2 | 12,307.1 | 14,063.1 | 15,028.3 | 16,573.0 | 17,282.9 | 14,528.2 | 15,659.3 | 16,777.7 |
| Other revenue (including surpluses and adjustments) | 17,884.6 | 10,116.1 | 8,310.7 | 6,148.9 | 6,056.4 | 7,634.5 | 10,816.5 | 8,318.6 | 8,598.7 | 10,009.0 |
Revenue by budget heading, per year (percent)
| Budget heading | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAT-based own resource | 23.5 | 22.7 | 13.4 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 16.5 | 15.6 | 10.9 | 9.8 | 11.4 |
| GNI-based own resource | 48.1 | 54.8 | 66.6 | 66.2 | 64.7 | 62.9 | 61.3 | 69.7 | 71.3 | 68.0 |
| Traditional own resources | 9.7 | 11.6 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 13.9 | 14.1 | 14.2 | 12.4 | 12.3 | 12.9 |
| Other revenue (including surpluses and adjustments) | 18.7 | 10.8 | 8.0 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 6.5 | 8.9 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 7.7 |
Expenditure by budget heading, per year (in millions of euros)
| Budget heading | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 43,520.6 | 44,379.2 | 43,579.4 | 48,465.8 | 49,798.8 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Structural actions | 23,499.0 | 28,527.6 | 34,198.3 | 32,763.2 | 32,399.3 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Internal policies | 6,566.7 | 5,671.8 | 7,255.2 | 7,972.1 | 9,013.7 | - | - | - | - | - |
| External actions | 4,423.7 | 4,285.8 | 4,605.8 | 5,013.1 | 5,186.2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Administration | 5,211.5 | 5,305.2 | 5,856.4 | 6,191.4 | 6,699.7 | 6,805.6 | 7,292.5 | 7,615.3 | 7,895.8 | 8,359.3 |
| Reserves | 170.5 | 147.9 | 181.9 | 140.1 | 127.6 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pre-accession strategy | 1,752.4 | 2,239.8 | 3,052.9 | 2,984.6 | 2,276.7 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Compensations | - | - | 1,409.5 | 1,305.0 | 1,073.5 | 444.6 | 206.6 | 209.1 | - | - |
| Sustainable growth | - | - | - | - | - | 43,713.0 | 45,611.4 | 44,683.5 | 48,828.0 | 54,731.6 |
| Preservation and management of natural resources | - | - | - | - | - | 54,648.4 | 54,812.7 | 55,877.3 | 56,647.3 | 57,374.5 |
| Citizenship, freedom, security and justice | - | - | - | - | - | 1,049.8 | 1,310.6 | 1,993.0 | 1,373.0 | 1,827.3 |
| The EU as a global partner | - | - | - | - | - | 7,291.8 | 7,310.7 | 7,982.9 | 7,486.5 | 7,102.2 |
Expenditure by budget heading, per year (percent)
| Budget heading | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 51.1 | 49.0 | 43.5 | 46.2 | 46.7 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Structural actions | 27.6 | 31.5 | 34.2 | 31.3 | 30.4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Internal policies | 7.7 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 8.5 | - | - | - | - | - |
| External actions | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.9 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Administration | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Reserves | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pre-accession strategy | 2.1 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Compensations | - | - | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | - | - |
| Sustainable growth | - | - | - | - | - | 38.4 | 39.1 | 37.8 | 39.9 | 42.3 |
| Preservation and management of natural resources | - | - | - | - | - | 48.0 | 47.0 | 47.2 | 46.3 | 44.3 |
| Citizenship, freedom, security and justice | - | - | - | - | - | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| The EU as a global partner | - | - | - | - | - | 6.4 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 5.5 |
