Taxpayers say EU membership costs five times more

Taxpayers’ associations say the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is significantly underestimating Iceland’s expected annual cost of European Union membership, mbl.is reports. The associations have conducted a detailed analysis and submitted comments on the issue to the OSCE’s democratic and human rights institution.

The ministry has estimated that the net cost of membership could total 10 to 15 billion Icelandic krónur per year, or 2 to 7 billion krónur after accounting for costs related to European Economic Area cooperation that would end if Iceland joined the EU.

According to the taxpayers’ analysis, the cost would be considerably higher. After taking account of estimated payments from EU funds and costs that would be eliminated, the net cost would be 23 to 44 billion krónur. The midpoint of that estimate is 34 billion krónur, nearly five times the ministry’s upper estimate once the discontinued EEA-related costs are included.

The associations also criticise the ministry for not detailing Iceland’s gross payments and for referring to Finland’s net payments without specifying which year or data the comparison is based on. They further claim that the benefit of eliminating certain EEA-related costs has partly been counted twice.

The taxpayers’ analysis puts the gross annual cost of membership at 43 to 53 billion krónur, with a midpoint of about 47 billion. The associations used several methods to calculate the cost and reached estimates within the same range in every case, well above the ministry’s figures.

Ragnar Árnason, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Iceland, has reviewed the analysis and says its findings are consistent with his own assessment. He considers the associations’ analysis well prepared and more reliable than the ministry’s estimate.