Malta will be paying €1 million less towards the European Union's coffers this year as a result of a revision made by the European Commission following a two per cent surplus registered in the EU's 2009 Budget.

According to the current rules, the EU must end a year with a balanced budget and any surpluses left, if any, should be redistributed back to member states.

The Commission said that since in 2009 the EU ended the year with a surplus of €2.25 billion, all the leftover cash will be shifted to this year's budget so that member states will benefit from a reduction in their contribution.

In Malta's case this will amount to a reduction of €1.1 million on the approximately €80 million contribution expected to be sent to Brussels this year.

The calculations of these reimbursements were based on the Gross National Incomes (GNI) of each member state.

Germany, the largest member state will receive the largest reimbursement amounting to €459 million. However, unlike Malta, Germany is a net contributor to the EU while Malta still receives much more money from Brussels than it gives to the EU.

For the current seven year financial period, 2007 - 2013, Malta is expected to receive a total of €1 billion from EU coffers to use on various projects and initiatives including major infrastructural developments such as the building of roads, sewage treatment plants, restoration works and environmental upgrades.

During the first two years of the financial period (2007 and 2008), Malta received a total of €143.4 million from the EU while its contributions amounted to €117.1 million.

According to a Commission report issued a few weeks ago, Malta is one of the most advanced countries out of the 27 member states in committing cohesion funds for projects.

According to the Commission, Malta has already committed 48.7 per cent of the available funds and is the third best performer in the EU following Belgium and The Netherlands.