Does France give more to Europe than it receives?

The European election campaign is already well underway, with a vote on June 9. Some parties, led by the National Rally, believe that Europe costs too much. According to them, France pays more than it receives.
Anti-European Union (EU) movements, like Generation Frexit, repeat that France is losing money with Europe. “Every year, it gives much more money to the EU than it receives,” said Charles-Henri Gallois, president of Génération Frexit, speaking to the media Livre Noir on January 28. Ideas that can be found on social networks. In 2022, according to the European Commission, France gave 26.5 billion euros, compared to 16.9 billion euros in aid. It is the second net contributing country to the EU behind Germany.

France benefits financially from the European Union


But this calculation does not take into account all the benefits that France derives from its membership in the European community: nearly 4 million jobs created and nearly 445 million consumers without customs duties. France also participates in major European projects that it could not finance alone, such as the Galileo satellite network, or Copernicus, the space program for monitoring the Earth. Furthermore, the contribution to the EU depends on the wealth of each country and is reassessed regularly.

This article is originally published on francetvinfo.fr

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