The EU is though and the EU gets its money from its member states who in turn take it from its people in the form of taxation. The Nordic countries are major contributors to the EU and have high taxes.
Sad to see the crap brexit-generated misinformation spreading.
Direct and indirect contributions to EU coffers are minimal as % of state expenditure, particularly once you look at the outsized returns in the wider economy. When German banks lend money to Greece to buy their tanks, public debt exposition grows in theory but in practice German coffers win twice. That's why Northern European countries are the big winners of the Common Market. If you have an issue with how this dynamic allocates the resulting "loot", you should take it up with Northern European leaders who allow most of the returns to stay in the private sector.
The Nordic private debt has nothing to do with the EU; I'm not sure about Iceland and the Danish territories in the Atlantic, but Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have fairly insane housing markets in the urban areas, and the current record-low interest rates are just pouring the proverbial petrol onto the fire at the moment.
A few generations ago, many people paid of their mortgage within 15 years of buying property. Now, it's usually 30-40 years due to the rapidly inflating prices. It's obvious, to me at least, that this contributes to higher private debt.
Norway follows the EU regulations without right to vote on them and has access to common market (but not the customs union). It contributes only to EU programs it elected to participate in: largely security, humanitarian and educational.
I said Nordic, not Norway. Also the EU isn't actually something you are either a member of, or not. There are many treaties and Norway is a signatory to many of them. As a result, Norway does in fact contribute to the EU.
Direct and indirect contributions to EU coffers are minimal as % of state expenditure, particularly once you look at the outsized returns in the wider economy. When German banks lend money to Greece to buy their tanks, public debt exposition grows in theory but in practice German coffers win twice. That's why Northern European countries are the big winners of the Common Market. If you have an issue with how this dynamic allocates the resulting "loot", you should take it up with Northern European leaders who allow most of the returns to stay in the private sector.