Malta is being requested by the European Commission to top its EU budget by €13 million.

Addressing Maltese journalists in Brussels ahead of a Euro Group meeting, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the top-up was being requested as a result of a statistical adjustment carried out annually. The mechanism is based on the gross national income and VAT revenue.

He remarked that the adjustment this year was pronounced and in some cases, most notably the UK, translated to €2.1 billion, followed by the Netherlands (€700 million).

This mechanism also resulted in an additional contribution of €90 million for debt-ridden Greece and €42 million for Cyprus.

The PM noted that EU leaders have “unanimously agreed to press the pause button” to allow finance ministers get the necessary verification from Eurostat.

"No country is requesting to tinkering with figures, but we are only seeking an explanation, the PM said.

“We are not surprised, thanks to the fact that we had been alerted by the permanent representation in Brussels of this possibility,” Dr Muscat said.

He noted that this was also catered for in the draft budget sent to the EU Commission earlier this month, and so will not result in any deviation in the deficit.

The PM also said that this development could be linked to money which Malta was due from Brussels, but cautioned that no clear cut decisions had been taken yet.

The top-up requested, according to the European Voice are:

UK (€2.125 billion), the Netherlands (€642.7 million), Italy (€340.1m), Greece (€89.4m), Cyprus (€42.4m), Malta (€13.1m), Bulgaria (€7m), Ireland (€6.5m), and Latvia (€6.5m).

Based on the same calculation, some member states that overpaid their contribution in 1995-2013 are being reimbursed, with the biggest sums going to France, which would receive €1.016 billion, and Germany (€779.2m).

 

 

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