Press Release: EU budget estimates spot on

In 2008, Member States' contributions to the European Union budget almost exactly matched agreed spending for the year. With just over 1.5% of the overall EU budget unspent, the high implementation rate of funds has left another record low surplus, reflecting effective budgetary management and ongoing efforts only to call on Member States for payments that are strictly necessary. The end-of-year surplus – the difference between all EU budget revenue and spending – amounted to €1.79bn of the total €115.771bn budget in 2008 and will be returned to Member States. This 1.5% compares to 16% in 2001, when the EU budget surplus was at its peak.