Last year, the Czech Republic once again received more funds from the European Union budget than it paid in. In addition, it received revenue from the EU Recovery Fund (NGEU). In total, the Czech Republic received CZK 83.2 billion more than it contributed to the EU budget.
“In addition to the familiar funds from the European Structural Funds, more and more financial resources are currently flowing into the Czech Republic from the EU Recovery Fund (NextGenerationEU). Last year, the amount was over CZK 74 billion—almost twice as much as in 2023. We are using the money from the National Recovery Plan, which is now in full swing, primarily for the modernisation and digitalisation of the Czech Republic,” said Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura in a press release.
In 2024, the Czech Republic received a total of CZK 69 billion from the EU budget, while it contributed CZK 60 billion to the European budget. The Czech Republic’s positive balance with the EU budget continued to result primarily from revenue from the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, totalling almost CZK 36 billion, and from funds for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) amounting to CZK 24.9 billion.
In addition to the revenue from the EU budget, in 2024 the Czech Republic received further funding for reconstruction aid to promote cohesion and the regions of Europe (React-EU and the Just Transition Fund), the National Recovery Plan, and selected investment programmes from the EU Reconstruction Fund (NGEU) in the amount of CZK 74.2 billion.
Since joining the EU on 1 May 2004 until the end of 2024, the Czech Republic has transferred CZK 936.6 billion to the EU and invested CZK 2.01 trillion (around EUR 80 billion). In total, the Czech Republic has therefore received around CZK 1 trillion (around EUR 40 billion) more than it paid into the EU budget. With the additional revenue from the EU Recovery Fund, the total revenue even amounts to CZK 2.16 trillion. This brings the increase in net withdrawals from the EU budget during the Czech Republic’s membership since 2004 to CZK 1.22 trillion (around EUR 48 billion).
The Czech Republic’s long-term positive net position in the EU budget is mainly based on income from the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund, and funds from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. The long-term increase in Czech contributions reflects both the growing EU budget and the country’s ongoing economic development within the EU.
