European Union Budget

Taxpayers' money is used by the Union to fund activities that all Member States and parliaments have agreed upon in the Treaties. A small amount – around 1% of the Union's national wealth, which is equivalent to about 235 Euro per head of the population – comes into the EU's annual budget and is then spent mainly for its citizens and communities.
A wide range of activities are funded in the Member States, for example in agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure (construction of roads, bridges and railways), education and training, culture, employment and social policy, environmental policy, health and consumer protection, research, to mention a few. Initiatives are also underway to offer EU citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal borders. Part of the EU budget is also spent on funding economic development around the world and on humanitarian aid to help non-EU countries afflicted by natural disasters and other crisis situations. …