Nav 8-1: Debunking budget myths

Length Browsing: 30 minutes Reporting: 30 minutes
Goal
  • To critically evaluate claims about the EU budget.
  • To learn to work with EU budget data.
Introduction Chapter 8 has given us an overview of the revenues and expenditures of the EU. The EU budget is often criticized for being too large and/or inefficient. In order to counter such claims, the European Commission has created a website on which it tries to debunk ‘EU budget myths’. In this exercise, you will evaluate some of these myths and the argument(s) the Commission has presented against them.
Steps
  • Go to the European Commission’s website on budget myths. It has been discontinued but you can find an archived version, which discusses the constellation in 2013.
  • Choose two ‘myths’ and read the counterarguments presented by the Commission.
Questions For each of the two myths, answer the following questions:
  • Are the claims made by the Commission (still) supported by the figures in Chapter 8?
  • What (implicit or explicit) normative position does the Commission take in debunking the myth?
  • In conclusion: Do you agree with the arguments of the Commission?
Links EU budget ‘Myths and Facts’ website

© All exercises copyright Herman Lelieveldt and Sebastiaan Princen 2022

Cambridge University Press

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