Financing the EU Budget Moving Forward Or Backwards?

Often described as complex, opaque and unfair, the system of financing the EU budget remains an 'unfinished journey'. One of the most critical issues is the fact that citizens cannot trace the path of their individual contributions to the EU's coffers. This lack of transparency conveys the false idea that EU funds 'grow on trees' and militates against a proper account-giving of the funds spent. Funding the EU budget with a visible resource would acknowledge the status of the EU as a union of member states and their nationals. Such visibility may be achieved by introducing a dedicated EU Value Added Tax rate, to be designed as such in fiscal receipts and made financially neutral for consumers by an equivalent decrease of the national VAT rate. The political sustainability of such a move, which would put the legitimacy of EU revenues at the forefront of public discussion, will depend on the EU institutions and member states' ability to demonstrate that EU funds can achieve results far beyond what EU countries can attain individually.