The cost of British and Irish diplomacy in the EU

Last year diplomacy the administration cost of diplomatic representation in 26 other EU Member States cost the British Government over €141 million last year while the Irish Government spent €19 million on our diplomatic enterprise in the Member States.  That excludes the €3.3 million Ireland spent on the permanent representation to the EU in Brussels.

British diplomacy in Ireland costs HM Government €2.7 million while Irish diplomacy in the United Kingdom cost €4.5 million, including almost €1.25 million spent on offices in Armagh and Belfast.  Ireland’s diplomatic spend in the UK is broadly similar to the British diplomatic spend in Cyprus.

Six years ago Ireland spent over €7 million in Great Britain maintaining offices in Cardiff and Edinburgh as well as the embassy and visa office in London.

There are just five jurisdictions in the world where Britain does not have a diplomatic presence.  Ireland currently has 56 embassies, 10 consulates and 7 multilateral missions with entities such as the European Union, United Nations, Council of Europe and the OECD.  Several ambassadors carry accreditation to third countries on a non-resident basis, such as The Holy See.

The following is a comparison of actual 2011 costs of maintaining these embassies:

 

COUNTRY	UK – €	IE – €
AUSTRIA	6,810,326	655,547
BELGIUM	8,428,181	799,662
BULGARIA	3,469,899	360,831
CYPRUS	4,544,052	366,537
CZECH REP	4,624,478	570,991
DENMARK	5,509,086	393,102
ESTONIA	2,328,663	378,515
FINLAND	4,789,540	508,919
FRANCE	12,797,155	1,647,082
GERMANY	18,979,903	926,903
GREECE	7,698,253	471,858
HUNGARY	5,339,509	486,420
IRELAND	2,767,729
ITALY	-1,651,964	1,146,284
LATVIA	1,812,955	183,604
LITHUANIA	1,812,955	414,957
LUXEMBOURG	1,677,422	387,042
MALTA	2,809,973	324,249
THE NETHERLANDS	5,755,805	652,113
POLAND	8,050,601	737,398
PORTUGAL	4,751,460	427,883
ROMANIA	4,153,139	472,071
SLOVAKIA	2,102,514	356,754
SLOVENIA	1,946,207	400,385
SPAIN	14,553,068	971,078
SWEDEN	5,502,374	616,346
UK		4,502,655
TOTAL	€141,263,284	€19,159,126

[The negative figure showing for the British embassy in Italy is due to income from other Government Departments and impairment (property revaluation) costs.]

Ireland’s diplomatic footprint in North America costs €4.4 million; BRICS €4.2 million, Latin America €1.3 million, The Middle East €2.5 million, Asia-Pac €4.9 million and the United Nations €3.2 million.

The are also diplomatic offices and embassies that support the Irish Aid programme and in other locations, such as Norway, Turkey, Nigeria and Switzerland.

Britain’s diplomatic footprint in the EU cost €139.7 million in 2011

The net operating cost of the United Kingdoms 26 embassies in the European Union was €139.7 million in the year to April 2011.  There are 1,610 staff employed in them and a further 190 in other outlying offices. The combined value of the Estate they occupy is €620 million, equivalent to 28% of the value of the entire British global diplomatic real estate.

The details are as follows:

Member State	Net Cost €	Staff	UK-EU Trade Balance € Million
Austria	6,588,852	55	-1,384
Belgium	8,154,094	65	-3,574
Bulgaria	3,557,057	45	49
Cyprus	4,396,278	65	633
Czech Republic	4,474,088	55	-2,740
Denmark	5,329,929	45	-3,470
Estonia	2,252,934	30	97
Finland	4,633,783	45	-973
France	10,404,191	180	352
Germany	18,265,923	195	-17,626
Greece	7,447,903	75	567
Hungary	5,046,866	55	-2,266
Ireland	2,677,721	45	4,605
Italy	1,598,241	110	-4,064
Latvia	1,753,997	30	-173
Lithuania	1,753,997	35	-342
Luxembourg	1,622,872	10	-730
Malta	2,718,592	25	293
The Netherlands	5,568,743	60	-5,726
Poland	7,788,793	75	-42
Portugal	4,596,941	50	-402
Romania	4,018,078	55	-1,122
Slovakia	2,034,140	25	-116
Slovenia	1,882,916	20	-1,265
Spain	14,079,798	110	-1,491
Sweden	5,323,435	50	-4,226
	€139,746,957	1,610	-€48,492

 

The EU accounts for 54% of global exports and 51% of global imports but Britain ran an adverse trade balance in 2011 with 20 of the 27 member states of the EU.  The combined value of her positive trade balance with Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece and Malta was €1,911 million.  But her positive trade balance with Ireland was a whopping €4,605 million.

Ireland accounts for 11% of Britain’s exports to the EU and Ireland supplies  6% of Britain’s import from the EU. 

The entire British global diplomatic enterprise consists of almost 270 offices and a staff of 10,500 persons located outside the UK. A further 3,000 are employed in the UK.

The estate of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was estimated to be worth €2.2 billion on 30 September 2010, of which property worth €1.93 billion is located outside the UK.  The IT infrastructure alone represents an investment of €38 million while the embassy network is home to antiques and silver worth an estimated €10 million.

The largest investment in embassy offices is in France €43 million, Hong Kong €30 million, New Delhi €17 million, Rome €19.75 million, Dublin €16 million and Moscow €13 million. The most valuable official residences are located in Paris €33 million, Rome €25 million, Athens €13.5 million and Washington DC €8 million. The British Ambassador’s residence in Dublin is valued at €5 million.

The British have closed their embassy in Mali, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Madagascar, East Timor and Paraguay. The have closed consulates in 18 locations around the world. Seven embassies and six consulates have been opened since 1997.

The budget for Ireland’s overseas missions this year is €53 million, figure comparable to the cost of ‘free’ television licences purchased by the Department of Social Protection.  Ireland’s diplomatic force employs a total of 555 persons.