UK says Brexit divorce bill is £37.3bn, more than £3bn lower than EU’s figure
The Treasury today gave an estimate of the UK’s Brexit divorce bill that is £3bn lower than the European Union’s latest figure.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay updated MPs on Thursday to say that the current value of the financial settlement is £37.3bn.
This is significantly lower than the updated figure of 47.5bn euros, around £40.5 billion, issued in Brussels’ latest accounts last week.
Estimates
The UK’s latest estimate falls between its previously stated range of £35bn and £39bn for the bill covering spending commitments made during the 47 years of the UK’s membership of the bloc.
On 9 July, Downing Street said it did not accept the EU’s revised sum.
“We don’t recognise that figure, it’s an estimate produced by the EU for its own internal accounting purposes,” a No 10 spokesman said.
“For example, it doesn’t reflect all the money owed back to the UK, which reduces the amount we pay.”
A methodology for calculating the divorce bill was agreed during negotiations for the Withdrawal Agreement that paved the way for the UK’s departure, but an exact figure was not agreed.
Last week a European Commission spokesman said the new figure is “correct”.
He said: “We have already informed the UK Government about the payments that they have to do with regard to the first part of this year and they’ve already in fact paid part of the amount concerned.
“Therefore, we have absolutely no indications at this point in time that the bill, or the amount that we’ve calculated, will be contested.”
A Treasury spokesperson told City PM today that Barclay’s “statement sets out our full estimate of what we expect to pay for the financial settlement, which remains within our central range of £35-£39bn.”
“The Government continues to work constructively with the EU to ensure that the UK pays the right amount under the Withdrawal Agreement,” he added.