Being in Europe 'costs £114,000 a minute'

12 April 2012

Britain is paying £114,000 a minute to be a member of the EU, it is claimed today.

That is £1,000 a year for every man, woman and child in the country.

The report, by the right-wing Bruges Group think-tank, is an attempt to conduct the cost-benefit analysis demanded by many MPs and peers since we joined the then European Economic Community in 1973.

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The Berlaymont Commission building in Brussels - one of the institutions apparently costing £114,000 a minute

Successive governments have refused such a study, arguing the benefits are selfevident. But the research concludes Britain has contributed £213billion to the EU budget since it joined - and forecasts that by 2013 this will have risen to almost £300billion.

It also assesses indirect costs of membership. Over-regulation costs Britain at least £26billion a year and the Common Agricultural Policy at least £15.6billion, it claims.

This year, the report says, membership of the EU will cost £60.1 billion gross.

The CAP, the report says, costs a British family of four an additional £20 on their weekly food bill.

About half of this is made up of higher taxes in order to subsidise farmers, and half through higher food bills compared to what we would pay for the same food on the world market.

Robert Oulds, director of the Bruges Group, said: £To put it into perspective just £1 billion will pay for 222,000 hip replacements, or 46,893 nurses, or 38,782 teachers, or 34,585 police officers.

"This money would be better spent in Britain for the benefit of the British people."

The Treasury dismissed the figures, saying Britain's contributions for 2006/7 were £8.7billion gross. The European Commission said the statistics were "exaggerated".

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