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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels

Adding nine countries to EU to cost existing members more than €250bn

EU flags at EU HQ in Brussels
Enlargement has become one of the most urgent topics for the EU, with Ukraine by far the largest of the nine prospective members. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP

Expanding the size of the EU to include nine new countries including Ukraine would cost the existing members more than €256bn (£220bn), internal calculations have revealed.

The knock-on effect would be to turn many countries that currently enjoy net financial benefits of the EU into net contributors.

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