Detox. No, France’s net contribution to the European Union has not quadrupled in four years

Among Marine Le Pen’s campaign promises is income tax exemption for young people under 30. Asked about France Inter on how to finance this measure, the patroness of the National Rally notably mentioned the ” savings to be made on the net contribution to the European Union which has quadrupled in four years, just that “.

As a reminder, the European Union does not levy any tax directly from citizens. Its income comes from contributions from Member States. The French contribution (the second most important behind that of Germany) has progressed well in recent years. But in proportions that have nothing to do with what Marine Le Pen claims. Between 2016 and 2020, the last year for which we have figures, this contribution increased from 20.82 to 25.34 billion euros. A multiplication by 1.2, therefore, and not by 4. The increase is largely explained by the impact of the Covid on the year 2020.

Over a longer period, budget documents from the 2022 finance bill indicate that “ the amount of the French contribution to the benefit of the European Union has multiplied, as a share of French tax revenue, by more than two in forty years, from 3.7% of revenue in 1982 to 9.6% in 2022 “. Note also that France does not contribute to the budget of the European Union without return. With nearly 16 billion euros in 2020, France is still the second beneficiary country of the European Union, after Poland.

Find Detox Monday to Thursday, on the show 28 minutes on Arte, presented by Elisabeth Quin.
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