Have any EU member states gone from being net recipients of EU funds to net contributors?

A big component underpinning the European Union's philosophy is the concept of "solidarity payments". The idea is that the wealthier states transfer money to the poorer states, which are supposed to use the money to improve infrastructure and productivity. In theory this should speed up their growth and allow their economies to converge with the wealthy states. At that point, nirvana is reached and the need for vast transfers ceases.

This system has been in place since 1957, when the six founding countries formed the EEC.

So how has it worked out in practice?

Here is a graphic showing contributions and receipts in 2023. There are only 10 net contributors out of the 27 member states (from 10 contributors out of 28 states prior to Brexit).

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(Click the image to enlarge)

Spain moved into a net contributor positiion in 2022, 40 years after they joined the EEC/EU in 1982.

The only other country to move from being a net recipient to a net contributor is the Irish Republic. They achieved net contributor status in 2018, 45 years after they joined in 1973.

Finland, which has been a net contributor since they joined in 2001, looks to be moving in the opposite direction. Here is what their government said happened in 2024:

Expressed as a share of gross national income (GNI), Finland’s net contribution fell from 0.30 % in the prior year to just 0.11 %.

The decline is explained by two key factors: Finland received more income from the EU budget last year, and at the same time its payments into the budget decreased.

While the European Commission no longer publishes country-by-country net payment positions, the Finnish Ministry of Finance has computed Finland’s net contribution using the Commission’s methodology.

Finland’s net payment to the Union in the latest year stood at €309 million, down from €840 million the previous year.

Sadly, the EU has stopped publishing net contributions by country. Probably because it's not clear that the transfer funds are having an effect on growth. Ireland, achieved their growth with a predatory corporate tax policy. It had nothing to do with transfer funds.