The European Union budget between 2007 and 2013 is estimated to be
> around ?975 billion, or £875 billion. According to the Treasury, the
> UK pays almost £10 billion a year into the EU?s budget. On average
> (after the rebate, which is about to be struck down), we get back
> about £5.2 billion.
>
> Britain?s net contribution will go from £3 billion in 2009?10 (from a
> gross contribution of £7.6 billion) to £6.4 billion in 2011?12 (fro m a
> gross contribution £12 billion), according to the Treasury?s
> projection. The UK is also the EU country that receives the least
> back from the budget per head.
>
> According to a recent report issued by the Open Europe think tank, the
> EU is the cause of a massive amount of waste. The report, entitled
> ?Open Europe?s 50 New Examples of EU Waste? reveals a large number of
> projects, funded by the taxpayers, which border on the bizarre, if not > the criminal.
>
> A few of the examples cited by Open Europe:
>
> - ?173,000 for a luxury golf resort, the Monte da Quinta Club, in the
> Algarve, Portugal, where guests can choose between ?the comfort of a
> villa with garden and private pool, or be dazzled by deluxe suites?.
> There is also a luxury spa, health club, several restaurants and bars,
> shops and a hairdresser.
>
> - ?2,500 for the Chairman of Porsche?s hunting retreat. Wolfgang
> Porsche, supervisory board Chairman of Porsche, received ?2,500 in EU
> rural development funds for a small estate in Bavaria, Germany, where
> he goes hunting in his free time.
>
> - ?100,000 for a luxury Spanish hotel chain. ?99,877 in EU funds for
> 2009 alone were granted to Tils Curt, a chain of luxury restaurants
> and hotels across Spain, established in 1880. The funds were given as
> part of the Regional Development Fund.
>
> - ?Donkeypedia?: the blogging donkey. As part of the EU?s ?7 mill ion
> ?Year of Intercultural Dialogue? initiative, the European Commission
> ran an art education project called ?Donkeypedia?, in which a donkey
> travels through the Netherlands, and primary school children meet and
> greet the donkey.
>
> The aim of the project was ?creating a reflection of all European
> identities. What are the similarities, what are the differences? What
> is it that makes Europe as unique as it is? Donkeypedia will try to
> make this feeling tangible by interacting and in dialogue with its
> surroundings while walking a European route through several countries
> and collecting data to support this image.? The donkey, named Asino,
> also maintained a blog throughout the walk. One entry reads: ?We
> started really early today, Cristian slept in a bed in a house. It was
> a crazy morning waking up. I was under a chestnut tree sleeping in
> sand, when I opened my eyes there were animals all looking at me. I
> was embarrassed! Now I understand a little how people from different
> cultures may feel in the Netherlands.?
>
> - ?850,000 for a ?gender equal? wood design centre. Local politicia ns
> in Orsa, a village of 5,000 inhabitants in Sweden, wanted a new wood
> ?design centre?, describing the idea as ?a catalyst and meeting pla ce
> for all creative activities?. The project description stressed that
> ?the building would clearly display a gender equality design.?
>
> The project won co-financing from the EU?s structural funds, which
> provided ?850,000 of the ?1.7 million that was budgeted for the
> project. However, when the funds ran out, the politicians decided to
> combine the wood design centre with the village?s other EU project, a
> wildlife centre, which had cost ?3.2 million up to that point. The
> wildlife centre was in need of a spectacular new entrance hall ? which
> became the wood centre. In their final report on the project the
> politicians confessed the building had not necessarily promoted
> cultural events, but proudly emphasised that all parts of the building
> were ?equally accessible regardless of gender.?
>
> Many others are listed in the Open Europe report which can be
> downloaded in full by clicking here.
>
> According to Open Europe, the EU spends ?54 billion a year on various
> types of farm subsidies (compared to ?42 billion in 2001). An audit
> showed that 32 percent of transactions involving EU rural development
> funds were affected by error.
>
> According to an OECD estimate for 2006, the ?real? cost of the CAP is
> ?125 billion a year, paid through higher prices and added taxes. The
> report also estimated that food in the EU is on average 20 percent
> above the world price, due to EU subsidies and tariffs.
>
>
formatting link
But most thinking people know all this stuff. The rest of the population just doesn't care. They, if they bother, will vote Lab/Lib/ Con as they always have. All three are committed to Europe in various degrees. You vote for your Socialist BNP and I'll vote for Capitalist UKIP ok?