What the UK already pays to the EU

The Prime Minister has reportedly called for emergency talks to discuss an additional £1.7 billion payment the UK has been told it has to pay into the European Union budget. According to the BBC, the additional payment has come about because the UK economy performed better than expected in recent years and because revisions mean parts of the 'black economy' like the trade in illegal drugs are now included in our measure of income.

While we seek further information from the European Commission about why this might be the case, here's the UK government's net contribution to the EU over the past 40 years.

On a calendar year basis, the net contribution by the UK government to the EU budget in 2013 was £8.6 billion, the highest it has ever been. This includes a total contribution of £13.9 billion and receipts of £5.2 billion.