Press Release: Preventing excessive budgetary imbalances in the EU

The Commission is proposing to generalise the principle of correcting any Member State's excessive net budgetary burden. The principle was acknowledged in 1984, when the UK rebate was introduced. A 'generalised correction mechanism' is proposed today, the main characteristics of which are: triggering if net contributions exceed 0.35% of a Member State's Gross National Income (GNI); contributions above this refunded at a rate of 66%; total refund volume limited to a maximum of €7.5 billion a year, financed by all Member States based on their relative share of GNI.