cricketman

That's clutching at straws really isnt it? Britain got a huge rebate up to a few years ago which meant they were only a minor contributer. This is a legacy from when the UK was actually the poorest member of the EU, so Britain hasnt done too badly out of EU membership

jackytoo

Britain has always been a net contributor despite the rebate which was agreed because of the vast amounts of money given to some countries from the CAP.

rspltd

I think you are clutching at straws cricketman. There is a world of difference between a country that has always been a contributor and a country that has always been a recipient. Just to take the 2011 figures. The UK contributed a net amount of €4,662,663 and Spain received net €3,722,946 - I wonder how much difference that adds up to since 1986 when Spain 'joined'.

Fredbargate

Of the PIIGS Italy is the only one to have contributed to the EU and up until 2011 ( last figures ) is still a major contributor.

Domino

and what the hell did we do with the money

cricketman

Well quite rightly, in most of the 20th Century Spain has been immensely poorer than the UK. The point of EU grants is to distribute the money from the richer to the poorer nations so that the common market is fair and makes sense

The problem I have is that many Brits are using the EU as a scapegoat for the country's problems. It is pretty insignificant in terms of monetry commitment and of course gives Britain access to a huge free market. For Britain though, it is much easier to blame everyone else than themselves

I have always said, if Britain wants out then fine, but then all the other privaledges of EU membership should go too, such as right to travel, do business and reside in other European countries

The Beast

Relampago

Maybe something has had to see the civil war that we have had, and later an almost 40 year-old dictatorship. This generated an backwardness. Also, in that period Spain had to be industrialized without the help of any type of financing. Here there was not plan Marshall. Surprisingly, our industry grew notably in the dictatorship, but the politicians that preceded Franco (mainly the socialists) they put an end to what today could be one of the most potent industries in the world, because to be able to enter the UE, they almost destroyed all our industry, instead of investing in this industry

agoreira

Lampy, just after you were having your internal squabble, we were involved in our own little squabble, namely World War 2. You can't go on blaming that forever, it was over 70 years ago.

Pocaloca