The EU budget in my country : Ireland.
Date: 2014-05-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Budget
Subjects: Community budget, EU budget, EU financing, EU investment, Ireland, budgetary expenditure, financial management, implementation of the budget

The EU budget in my country

Ireland

Ireland  

Baile Átha Cliath
Dublin

3

Did you know that …?

  ▶ … the EU is focusing on overcoming the 

crisis by investing in growth and jobs with 
a new multi‑billion‑euro fund to tackle youth 
unemployment in the EU’s hardest‑hit regions?

  ▶ … the EU budget supports Irish farmers and the 

development of the country’s rural communities by 
investing in projects that improve living conditions in 
the countryside and help rural businesses to become 
more competitive?

  ▶ … the EU is investing heavily in Irish research — a key 
area for the country’s competitiveness — and that of 
Europe?

  ▶ … the EU budget is YOUR budget: from scientists to 
farmers, from students to entrepreneurs, we can all 
benefit from projects funded by the EU?

What is the EU budget?

The EU budget is an important tool that puts EU policies 
into practice. It finances actions that Member States cannot 
fund on their own or that they can fund more economically 
by pooling their resources. The EU budget is adopted through 
a democratic procedure: it is prepared by the European 
Commission (the EU’s executive body) and is then discussed 
and agreed by the Council of the EU (representing Member 
States, including Ireland) and by the European Parliament 
(where the democratically elected Irish representatives sit). 
Once adopted, the budget is then managed either jointly by 
the EU Member States and the Commission, or directly by the 
Commission. In practice, 80 % of the EU budget is managed 
by national or regional governments. Through grants, loans 
and other forms of financing, the EU budget provides financial 
support to hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries such as 
students, scientists, NGOs, SMEs, towns and regions.

Where does the money come from?

The EU budget is largely financed by ‘own resources’ which are 
based on three kinds of sources:

  ▶ customs duties on imports from outside the EU and sugar 

levies;

  ▶ a small part of the value added tax (VAT) levied in the EU;

  ▶ gross national income (GNI): each Member State transfers 
a standard percentage of its GNI to the EU. This forms the 
largest source of income for the EU budget (76 % in 2012).

This system has been unanimously decided on by EU Member 
States for a 7‑year period, and has been ratified by all national 
parliaments. It aims to provide a reliable and sufficient level of 
revenue for the EU budget, while at the same time taking into 
account the Member States’ ability to pay. Each Member State 

thus contributes in line with its wealth. The other sources of 
revenue for the EU budget include taxes on EU staff salaries, 
fines on companies for breaching competition laws and bank 
interest, etc. There is no direct EU tax. EU countries remain in 
control of their taxes.

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND4

Where does the money go?

Who keeps an eye on EU spending?

Some 94 % of EU money is spent on the various EU policies, 
and most of it goes back to Member States. In many cases, 
the EU budget supports large and complex projects. One of 
them is the European Partnership Action against Cancer, where 
a collective European effort helps to prevent the disease and 
find a cure for it. Approximately 6 % of the EU budget is spent 
on the functioning of the EU institutions. This is used to pay 
for the salaries and pensions of EU employees, translation 
and interpretation, security, buildings and IT systems, etc. This 
expenditure is necessary in order to allow the EU to work.

The chart below provides an overview of how much the EU 
invested in each of its Member States in 2012, and shows the 
contribution of European funding to each country’s wealth. In 
Ireland, EU funding represents 1.5 % of the country’s wealth 
(expressed in gross national income).

The Commission has put into place robust internal control 
measures in order to ensure that funds are spent efficiently 
and effectively. As 80 % of the EU budget is managed by 
national or regional governments, Member States also play 
an important role in ensuring that rules are observed, and in 
detecting and addressing irregularities and fraud. Additionally, 
the European Court of Auditors reviews the EU accounts 
every year. For several years the Court has confirmed that 
the EU accounts are properly kept, but also points out errors 
in procedures (e.g. accounting errors by national programme 
participants or claims for non‑eligible costs). Errors do not 
mean that EU money is lost, wasted or affected by fraud. 
A large part of the money spent in error is recovered. 
In addition, the European Parliament approves how the 
Commission has spent the budget following the end of every 
financial year.

If you want to see which entities have received EU funding, 
the financial transparency system will show you which entities 
have received payments from the EU budget.

Expenditure by Member State in 2012 (in million EUR)

16 000

14 000

12 000

10 000

8 000

6 000

4 000

2 000

0

PL  ES  FR  DE 

IT  BE  UK  PT  EL  CZ  HU  RO  SK  NL 

IE  AT 

LT  BG  SE  LU  DK 

FI 

LV  EE  SI  CY  MT

6 %

5 %

4 %

3 %

2 %

1 %

0 %

1a. Competitiveness
1b. Cohesion
2.  Natural resources
3a. Freedom, security  

and justice
3b. Citizenship
4.  The EU as a global  

player

5.  Administration
6.  Compensation
% GNI

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND 
 
The EU multiannual framework 
2014–20 in brief

Although the EU budget is adopted every year, it must be 
established within the limits of the multiannual financial 
framework (MFF). The MFF is an expenditure plan setting 
maximum annual amounts which the EU can spend in different 
fields of activities over a 7‑year period. It therefore shapes the 
EU’s political priorities for 7 years.

For the 2014–20 funding period, the EU wants to meet the 
targets of the Europe 2020 growth strategy, focusing on 
what Europe needs in order to overcome the economic and 
financial crisis and concentrating on areas where it can make 
a genuine difference. Some of the Commission’s proposals for 
radical reform were watered down by Member States but very 
important changes remain. Key elements of the 2014–20 MFF 
include:

  ▶ a focus on growth, jobs and competitiveness with 

increased investment in education and research, and a new 
Connecting Europe Facility fund to boost pan‑European 
infrastructure projects for transport, energy and information and 
communication technologies;

  ▶ a higher quality of spending thanks to simpler rules for EU 
funds, a clear focus on investments producing tangible results 
and the possibility of suspending EU funding if a country fails to 
implement sound economic and fiscal policies;

  ▶ a reformed common agricultural policy for a more 

competitive and environmentally friendly European agriculture;

  ▶ the fight against climate change as a key component of all 
major EU policies and devoting 20 % of the 2014–20 MFF to 
actions against climate change;

5

Too many EU civil 
servants?

There are around 55 000 EU civil servants and 
other employees serving 508 million Europeans 
and countless people in need around the world. 
In comparison, the German Finance Ministry 
alone employs more people than the European 
Commission’s services responsible for financial affairs, 
taxation and budget (1 850 staff compared with 
1 542). Furthermore, in order to adapt to the harsh 
economic situation in Europe, the EU institutions are 
also cutting costs: the Commission’s wide‑ranging 
staff reform is expected to save EUR 8 billion by 2020, 
reducing its staff by 5 %, while at the same time 
increasing its working hours.

  ▶ solidarity with the poorest EU countries and regions by 

concentrating the largest portion of regional funding in those 
parts of the EU and by introducing a new youth employment 
fund;

  ▶ reduced administrative expenditure growth thanks to cuts 

in staffing numbers at European institutions.

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND6

The EU budget and Ireland

The EU budget in 2012

In 2012, Ireland’s public expenditure amounted to around 
EUR 69 billion — which is much less than the EUR 136 billion 
EU budget for the year. However, it represented 52 % of the 
country’s GNI, whereas the EU budget for the 27 Member States 
at that time was roughly 1 % of the Union’s GNI.

The EU and national budgets serve different, yet 
complementary, purposes. The EU budget targets areas where 
EU money can generate added value. For example, a project of 
such magnitude as the European satellite navigation system 
Galileo could not be financed by a single Member State alone.

Unlike Ireland’s budget — or any other national budget — 
the EU budget does not fund defence expenditure or social 
protection, but is mostly investment spending. For example, 

Natural resources
43 %

Citizenship, freedom, 
security and justice
1 %

The EU as a global player
5 %

Administration
6 %

Sustainable 
growth
45 %

EUR 136 billion

The EU budget v national expenditure

60 %

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0 %

52 %

Ireland

1.05 %

EU

the EU is co‑financing a project aiming at making high‑speed 
Internet available everywhere in Ireland.

Ireland is one of the EU Member States that receives more 
from the EU budget than it contributes, and this will remain so 
throughout the next budgetary period (2014–20). It should be 
borne in mind that this net balance does not accurately reflect 
the many benefits of EU membership. Many of them, such as 
peace, political stability, security and the freedom to live, work, 
study and travel anywhere in the Union, cannot be measured. 
In addition, European investments are intended to benefit the 
EU as a whole, and European funding in one country can benefit 
other EU Member States as well. For example, Irish companies 
have unlimited access to a single market of 508 million 
consumers. With about 59 % of its exports going to EU countries 
in 2012, this is of significant benefit for the country.

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELANDOperating budgetary balance 2012 (% of GNI)

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Operating budgetary balance: the difference between what a country receives from and pays into the EU budget. There are many possible methods of calculating budgetary balances. In its financial report, 
the Commission uses a method based on the same principles as the calculation of the correction of budgetary imbalances granted to the United Kingdom (the UK correction). It is, however, important to 
point out that constructing estimates of budgetary balances is merely an accounting exercise regarding the purely financial costs and benefits that each Member State derives from the Union and it gives 
no indication of many of the other benefits gained from EU policies such as those relating to the internal market and economic integration, not to mention political stability and security.

Agriculture and rural development

EU funding in Ireland (2012)

A major part of the money that Ireland receives from 
the EU goes towards agriculture, rural development and 
conservation (82 % in 2012). EU agricultural policy supports 
farmers and promotes safe and good food, but it also looks 
after the environment, stimulates rural economies and 
improves life in the countryside. For instance, EU funds have 
enabled computer training for rural communities on Ireland’s 
east coast.

Administration
2 %

Citizenship, freedom, 
security and justice
1 %

Research

Total 
EUR 2 billion

The second‑largest share of the money that Ireland 
receives goes to research (9 %) — an area crucial for its 
competitiveness and economic development. The Union 
wants 3 % of its wealth to be invested in R & D by 2020. 
This investment will not only create jobs and growth, but 

Agriculture and 
rural development
82 %

Growth 
and jobs
9 %
Regional policy
6 %

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND 
 
8

is also essential for tackling some of the biggest issues of 
our time, such as energy, food security, climate change and 
an ageing population. About 1 492 Irish participants — 
be they universities, research institutes or SMEs — have 
already received funding through the EU’s 2007–13 research 
programme. For example, scientists from Trinity College Dublin 
are taking part in an EU‑funded research project investigating 
a new treatment for strokes.

Regional policy

This policy aims at reducing the economic, social and 
territorial disparities between Europe’s regions. Regional funds 
invest in a wide range of projects supporting job creation, 
competitiveness, economic growth, improved quality of life 
and sustainable development.

Did you know?

Since 1995, the EU has provided financial 
assistance to strengthen the peace process in 
Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland 
(Cavan, Donegal Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and 
Sligo). The ‘Peace programme’ supports projects which 
help to reconcile communities and build a shared 
society.

Did you know that 
agriculture is the only 
policy funded almost 
entirely by the EU?

That is why it represents a large proportion of the 
EU budget. It is also less costly for EU countries as 
a whole than implementing 28 different national 
policies. The common agricultural policy has 
undergone a major reform, whereby its share of the 
EU budget has fallen from 70 % in 1985 to around 
40 % today and is set to continue falling to 33 % 
in 2020. A new reform which comes into force in 
2014 further strengthens European agricultural 
competitiveness, making it more environmentally 
friendly and reducing the gap for countries receiving 
less money than the EU average.

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND9

EU projects near you

construction of art galleries in Sligo and Athlone. (EU funding: 
EUR 28.2 million)

Infrastructure and urban development

BROADBAND FOR ALL

TACKLING ROAD SAFETY AND CONGESTION IN CENTRAL 
IRELAND

A new bypass around the town of Tullamore was completed 
in October 2009. The 14 km road eases local traffic 
congestion considerably and facilitates the transport of 
goods and services beyond the region, thus increasing local 
competitiveness. Further benefits include greater traffic 
safety for local residents and the capacity for future road 
traffic growth — to between 7 000 and 16 000 vehicles 
a day by 2020. (EU funding: EUR 21.3 million)

Ireland’s national broadband scheme brings affordable, quality 
broadband to all parts of the country. In the past, broadband 
was not accessible to approximately 10 % of Ireland’s 
population. This scheme has had a positive effect on the 
rural economy, making the regions involved more attractive 
and competitive destinations for investment. Furthermore, 
the quality of life has improved for citizens in most areas. 
Regular use of the Internet is now higher in Ireland than the EU 
average. (EU funding: EUR 36 million)

Agriculture and rural development

A WELCOME INVESTMENT BOOST FOR CITIES 
AND TOWNS

COMPUTER TRAINING FOR ISOLATED RURAL 
COMMUNITIES

The aim of the ‘Gateways and hubs investment scheme’ 
was to enhance the attractiveness of major towns and cities 
throughout Ireland by providing funding for a wide range of 
infrastructure, regeneration, transport, cultural and energy 
projects. Initiatives that have received financial support 
include the redevelopment of Dundalk’s market square, 
the addition of bus and cycle lanes in Galway city and the 

This project aims to deliver computer training to isolated rural 
communities on the east coast of Ireland, in the rural Dublin 
region, using a vehicle which travels from village to town. 
Over 250 local people (mainly women) aged between 15 and 
87 have been trained to varying levels. A few participants 
have now become computing tutors at the local level. 
(EU funding: EUR 32 186)

Did you know?

The EU ‘Safer Internet’ programme supports 
projects informing parents, teachers and children 
of the potential risks that youngsters may 
encounter online. The programme also fights 
illegal content and harmful conduct such as grooming 
and bullying.

Broadband for all

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND10

Growth and jobs

STATE‑OF‑THE‑ART INCUBATION, RESEARCH AND 
ENTERPRISE CENTRE FOR LETTERKENNY

The Business Development Centre at the Letterkenny Institute 
of Technology has been extended to form a state‑of‑the‑art 
incubation, research and enterprise centre named CoLab. It 
comprises 23 business centres spread over 2 500 m2 and 
provides campus‑based incubation facilities to start‑up 
companies, along with facilities for industrial research — all 
with the aim of supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of 
their business development. It has become a very attractive 
location for the business community of the North West region. 
(EU funding: EUR 1.3 million)

CRYSTAL VISITOR CENTRE BOOSTS WATERFORD’S 
TOURISM

In 2009, the South East region of Ireland was hit hard by the 
closure of the Waterford Crystal manufacturing facility. The city 
council responded by re‑establishing a crystal manufacturing 

Did you know?

The European Progress Microfinance Facility 
provides micro‑loans (less than EUR 25 000) 
to micro‑entrepreneurs, and to people who 
have lost or are at risk of losing their jobs 
and want to set up their own micro‑enterprise. The 
initiative is designed for groups with limited access 
to conventional credit, such as women, young 
people, minority groups and people with disabilities. 
Some EUR 203 million was available for the 
period 2010–13.

visitor centre in Waterford, keeping heritage and craftsmanship 
firmly rooted in the city. The new installation — both attractive 
and educational — has already become the second‑biggest 
visitor attraction in the South East, and is the single greatest 
attraction for American tourists in the region. (EU funding: 
EUR 2.760 million)

Education and culture

FROM CHURCH TO CULTURAL CENTRE IN CORK

Christchurch, a neoclassical Georgian building dating back 
to the 18th century, ceased to function as a church in 1978. 
Since 2008, it has undergone extensive refurbishment, 
preserving the original structure. The church was maintained 
as a city landmark, but is now in use as a space for theatre, 
visual arts, an independent record shop, a café and an 
art‑house cinema. The centre is connected to the Triskel Arts 
Centre, and thus forms part of a single large arts complex. (EU 
funding: EUR 2.18 million)

ERASMUS PROGRAMME

Some 2 754 Irish students studied or worked abroad thanks 
to the Erasmus exchange programme in 2011–12. They 
received an average monthly grant of EUR 243 from the 
European Commission towards the extra costs of living abroad. 
Peter Murphy from Dublin spent 5 months in Lahti (Finland) 
studying industrial design. ‘My studies and my development 
got a great boost from my Erasmus exchange. It strengthened 
my practical skills and opened my eyes to a whole new world 
of art and design,’ he says.

Health and research

NEW LEAD ON STROKE TREATMENT

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin are taking part in an 
EU‑funded research project investigating a new treatment for 
strokes. The new technique involves cooling the patient’s brain 

THE EU BUDGET IN MY COUNTRY — IRELAND11

Did you know?

Irish writer Kevin Barry was one of the winners of 
the 2012 European Union Prize for Literature for 
his book City of Bohane. Every year the European 
Union Prize for Literature rewards the best new 
or emerging authors in the EU. Each winner receives 
EUR 5 000 and priority funding from the EU ‘Culture’ 
programme to get their book translated into other 
languages.

and could significantly reduce the number of stroke‑related 
deaths and disabilities. (EU funding: EUR 10.9 million)

Environment and energy

SMART IRRIGATION SYSTEM

EU‑funded researchers have developed a smart irrigation 
system that saves 1 500 trillion litres of water annually. 
The WaterBee system gives greater control over irrigation 
and makes water use more efficient. It gives accurate and 
complete information on crop and field conditions and comes 
with easy‑to‑use smartphone and web apps that support crop 
irrigation decisions with real‑time data. The system has been 
installed and is in use at 14 sites across Europe, including 
Ireland. (EU funding: EUR 2.2 million)

ALGAE‑BASED BIOFUEL TO HIT MARKET IN 15 YEARS

An EU‑funded research team led by Daithi O’Mhurchu Marine 
Research Station (DOMRS) in Bantry is developing biofuel from 
algae. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create 
new knowledge on a renewable energy source that can be 
produced around Europe. The team has identified two algae 
species with high oil content and a fast growth rate which 
are expected to be suitable for the production of commercial 
biofuel within 15 years. (EU funding: EUR 1.4 million)

Cover photo © littleny — Fotolia.com, page 9 © European Union,  
page 11 © European Union

© European Union, 2014 
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

More information on the European Union is available on the 
Internet (http://europa.eu).
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014

Printed in Belgium

Printed on paper awarded the EU Ecolabel (www.ecolabel.eu)

ISBN 978‑92‑79‑36581‑2 
doi:10.2761/20055

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doi:10.2761/20055