You pay € 532 a year to Europe - but there’s room for more efficiency

Calculations by the Politico news site show that every Belgian citizen pays € 1.46 a day to the European Union. This puts us in second place in Europe. By way of comparison, the Bulgarians put just € 0.18 a day each into the EU’s coffers. And that’s the signal for MEP Anneleen Van Bossuyt to demand more efficiency from the European Union: “Europe has got to stop doling out those so-called ‘free’ gifts in order to improve its image.”

In 2018, the European budget will exceed EUR 160 billion. Anneleen Van Bossuyt wants this amount to be spent in a better way. “Our investments have to be repaid in the form of jobs, security and the tackling of migration,” the MEP says. “So-called ‘free’ projects, like the train tickets for all 18-year-olds or free Wi-Fi, which actually cost the citizen huge amounts of tax revenue, will have to disappear. In addition, the unnecessary new buildings for the Parliament are indefensible.”

Priority for projects with added value

The N-VA is asking Europe to focus on what the citizen is demanding from the EU today. Initiatives with real added value must be prioritised, and whatever is less relevant for today’s society needs to be dismantled. “The citizen looks to Europe to guarantee his or her security, but the EU hardly released any resources in this regard,” Anneleen Van Bossuyt concludes. “For this reason, let’s finally get to the heart of the matter and look at where huge sums of money are being spent, and make sure these amounts are spent better.”