For every €1 it contributed since joining the EU in 2004, Malta has received €2 back from the Union’s coffers, according to new data published in Brussels.

However, although still a net recipient, last year Malta ended up with the worst balance since its accession, with just €7.2 million left over in its pocket. The 2009 Financial Report shows that it received a total of €71.5 million and contributed €64.3 million.

Asked for an explanation, an EU official told The Times this was normal since member states usually spend most of the funds allocated to them in the last years of the seven-year financial cycle (2007-2013).

For this financial period, Malta expects to receive a total of €1 billion from the EU if it manages to spend all the funds. So far, it tops the list of member states when it comes to committing EU funds for specific projects. Last year, the biggest chunk of money received, €35.3 million, was for so-called cohesion projects, particularly infrastructural works including the building of new roads and new facilities such as the recently inaugurated project at Ħagar Qim. Malta also received €12.1 million under the Justice, Freedom and Solidarity branch of EU funding, as financial help with illegal immigration problems.

Malta’s major contribution to the EU budget, €38.8 million, was forked out from its national coffers according to a formula tied to the country’s Gross National Income (GNI). Income from VAT passed to the EU amounted to €8.2 million while “traditional own resources”, which include excise taxes, amounted to €9.6 million.

The 27 EU member states will now soon start discussing the next financial period: 2014-2020. Only member states whose GDP is less than 75 per cent of the EU average will qualify to remain net recipients of EU funds.