Britain pays £14bn to EU in final year

BRITAIN handed over £14.4billion to Brussels during the country’s final year of EU membership.

Treasury data, published by the House of Commons Library, showed the annual gross contribution to Brussels’ coffers was one of the highest in our 47 years as a member.

Nearly £1billion more than the previous year, the sum was equivalent to over £500 for every UK household.

It would have been around £4.5billion higher without the rebate won by then PM Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

Figures showed around £5billion was returned to the UK under EU spending schemes last year, giving a net contribution of £9.4billion.

Tory MP Peter Bone, a leading figure in the Brexit campaign, said: “This is a huge sum of money. It shows why this country was right to leave the EU.

“Our contribution was set to rise even higher if we stayed in the EU.

“We have basically been subsidising other European countries.”

We are expected to pay a similar amount to Brussels this year for continuing EU single market and customs union membership during the transition out of the bloc’s rules.

Britain’s obligation to contribute to the EU budget is set to end once the transition expires at the end of this year.

But the UK could still have to pay money to Brussels for many years. The House of Commons Library research paper said: “The UK and EU have some outstanding financial obligations to each other that they are settling through a financial settlement.

“Obligations arise out of the UK’s participation in the EU budget and broader aspects of EU membership.”

The Office for Budget Responsibility reckons the settlement may cost us around £33billion once the final payment is made, possibly in the 2060s.

The biggest annual payment by the UK, £16billion gross and £11.5billion net, was made in 2013.