As noted in the above quote, the European Union can be seen as an economic power in its own right. However, it is also important to highlight that the total EU budget is very small when compared with the sum of all the national budgets of member states. In 2011 the total EU budget was €140 billion, whereas the total budget of all EU member states was €6,300 billion – 50 times bigger (European Commission, 2014c).

This chapter focuses on current EU member states (at the time of compiling the data for the atlas) and explores the distribution of EU policy and in particular the geographical distribution of the EU budget. The EU budget aims to promote the policy priorities agreed by all member states through a multi-annual spending plan known as the ‘Financial Framework’, which specifies the EU expenditure over a fixed period for specified categories. The last financial framework covered the period 2007–13 and ensured a certain planning security for the main areas of the common political goals of the EU. At the time of writing, tense negotiations are under way for the forthcoming Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–20.

The contributions to the EU budget by each country are based on economic power: each EU member state contributes to the budget a percentage of its value added tax (VAT) receipts and 1% of its gross national income (GNI). But because of various rebates the EU’s overall budget represents approximately 1% of the gross national income of all member states.

The graph here shows the total payments and contributions by country. It demonstrates one other, often less discussed, aspect of the EU: that although some of the wealthier countries pay quite large sums into the EU budget (depending on their GDP) they also receive quite large payments from it. For example, the largest contributors, such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, are also those in receipt of the largest payments from the EU budget.