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11/5/14

EU migrants pay euro 25.46 billion more in taxes than they receive - by Helen Warrell

European immigrants to the U.K. paid much more in taxes than they received in benefits over the past decade, making a net fiscal contribution of euro 25.46 billion ($31.9 billion), say researchers.

The research by academics at University College London comes at a time of fierce debate over freedom of movement within the EU.

Responding to fears among Conservative eurosceptics that migrants are "benefit tourists", David Cameron has pledged to renegotiate the rules allowing workers to move within the bloc.

However, Angela Merkel, German chancellor, is reported to have warned the UK prime minister that any move to reform these rights would lead Britain towards to an EU exit.

The arguments look set to intensify now UCL researchers have established that so-called "A10 migrants" from eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 contributed nearly euro 6.36 billion to the U.K. in the decade to 2011.

Those from the original 15 EU members brought a net gain of Euro 19.09 billion over the same period. By comparison, the UK-born population was a net cost.

The analysis showed that "EU 15" migrants contributed 64 percent more in taxes to the UK than they received in benefits, and the A10 group - comprising countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania - contributed 12 per cent more than they received.

Christian Dustmann, director of UCL's Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, said the debate in Britain was "anecdotally based".

"Certainly there is abuse [of immigration rules] but what is important from the perspective of the UK government are the numbers we have presented here: these are the realities," Professor Dustmann said.

Read more:  from the Financial Times.

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