this is only half the story. Yes, germany is the biggest net payer. At the same time, Germany has made a killing off of these other EU countries it pays to, more than it pays, through the Euro - though only as long as it exports a lot.

Germany was, for the longest time, the biggest exporting country in the world. (this is over). The Euro ties German money to South European money and thus avoids the currency strengthehing that would come with having this export engine; the other EU economies dilute the value of the currency, thus making for a cheaper Euro, thus making for more attractive German exports in the world (at the expense of EU countries that can't adjust their currencies to protect their businesses anymore, i.e., what happened, in effect, was a loss of monetary soverignty of EU countries to Germany, which has a grip on it.)

Thus, in the end, the benefits far outweighed the outflow of direct funds to the EU. The only thing is that this is over; soince German industry is on its way to being destroyed, that advantage is gone, and only the net payment balance remains. thnis was, once, actually a good deal. it no longer is.