{"id":2709,"date":"2019-05-13T12:14:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T12:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=2709"},"modified":"2022-03-02T11:32:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T11:32:44","slug":"does-the-eu-send-ni-e500m-annually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/europe\/does-the-eu-send-ni-e500m-annually\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the EU send NI \u20ac500m annually?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u20ac500 million figure quoted by the SDLP is substantiated by European Commission figures for EU regional funding of Northern Ireland. However, this is not a \u2018net\u2019 figure and does not take into account Northern Ireland\u2019s proportion of the UK\u2019s contribution to the EU. A more complete statement would be to say that Northern Ireland receives \u20ac55\/\u00a345 million more than we pay to the EU.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cBattle Bus\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, launched<\/a> his bid to be elected on 23 May 2019, to one of Northern Ireland\u2019s three seats in the European Parliament. On 8 May, there was a photocall in front of a campaign bus with the displayed claim: \u201cEurope sends us \u20ac500 million a year\u201d. The \u201cus\u201d refers to Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has resulted in a debate about both the amount and nature of funds being sent by Europe to the region. Another European election candidate, TUV party leader, Jim Allister, accused<\/a> the SDLP leader of reflecting a state of \u201cdreamland versus reality\u201d. The DUP MEP, Diane Dodds, who is fighting the same election, also contested<\/a> both the figure and the basis of Eastwood\u2019s assertion, stating: \u201cThe money we get from Brussels originates in UK pockets as we are net contributors to the EU. It is our own money coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where does the SDLP figure come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an SDLP representative contacted by FactCheckNI, the \u20ac500 million figure quoted on the side of the SDLP battle bus was derived from data released by the European Commission<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notes: Figures are in \u20ac millions; figures do not include any match funding by the Northern Ireland Executive; figures do not include other sources of EU funding, such as Horizon 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This details that \u20ac3,533.1 million is to be delivered in Northern Ireland over seven years between 2014 and 2020, which can be broken down to the approximate annual figure of \u20ac500 million used by the SDLP. However, this does not consider the contributions made by the region; it is not a net figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK net contribution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent fact check<\/a> by Full Fact<\/a> detailed the overall net contribution of the United Kingdom as a whole and found that in 2017, the UK paid in \u00a38.9 billion more than it got back. The House of Commons Library research service published the following illustration<\/a>, showing the calculation of the net contribution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Northern Ireland net contribution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An 2016 fact check<\/a> by FactCheckNI explored the claim that Northern Ireland was a net contributor to the EU. We concluded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis claim is false, as we estimate that Northern Ireland was a net recipient of \u00a374 million in the 2014\/15 financial year. Others have claimed that Northern Ireland is a recipient of \u00a358 million, but this fails to take into account the requirement for match funding under the PEACE Programme and the exact value of farm subsidies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern Ireland\u2019s estimated net contribution to the EU can be calculated by using mid-year population estimates for 2016 (for the 2017 budget):<\/p>\n\n\n\n