Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday he was “not surprised” by an upward revision of €13.1 million in the country’s EU contribution but Malta demanded an explanation about the new bill.

Addressing a press briefing at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels that marked the midpoint of the Italian presidency, Dr Muscat said the revision, which affected eight other countries, was the result of a statistical adjustment.

“We are not surprised, thanks to the fact that we had been alerted by the permanent representation in Brussels of this possibility,” he said, allaying fears of possible deviations in the deficit.

However, he said EU leaders “unanimously agreed to press the pause button” to allow finance ministers to get the necessary verifications from the EU’s statistics agency (Eurostat).

“No country is requesting any tinkering with figures but we are only seeking an explanation,” he said.

The response by British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose country is facing a €2.1 billion bill, was a little less composed.

“If people think I am paying that bill on December 1, they have another think coming,” he said. “It is not going to happen.”

Besides Malta and the UK, the exercise affected The Netherlands (€642.7 million), Italy (€340.1 million), debt-ridden Greece (€89.4 million), Cyprus (€42.4 million), Bulgaria (€7 million), Ireland (€6.5 million) and Latvia (€6.5 million).

A number of countries, mainly France (€1.016 billion) and Germany (€779.2 million), will be refunded because they were deemed to have overpaid their contribution between 1995 and 2013.

Dr Muscat argued that the revision could also be linked to the money due from Brussels, hinting that the higher contribution could be offset against a reduction in EU funds. However, he cautioned that no clear-cut decisions had been taken yet.

He pointed out that, in certain cases, the revision – based on the gross national income and revenue from VAT – was much more pronounced than expected.