Our £85bn Brexit bill for UK is not revenge, says Barnier
THE EU’s chief negotiator turned up the heat in the row over Brexit yesterday by insisting that settling a multi-billion pound departure bill was a “question of trust”.
Michel Barnier warned that British taxpayers must agree to settle “expensive” outstanding debts covering “thousands” of EU projects all over the continent before talks can start on a future trade deal.
He rebuked Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for suggesting earlier this week that Brussels should “go whistle” for the cash. “I’m not hearing any whistling – just the clock ticking,” the grim-faced bureaucrat said. His riposte at a news conference in Brussels came ahead of the first serious round of detailed Brexit negotiations starting next week.
Yesterday he urged UK ministers to clarify their position on the question of settling the country’s accounts for “thousands of programmes”. He was referring to the EU’s multi-billion euro schemes for agriculture, social policy and other areas of expenditure.
“What happens with the programmes, that is a question of trust,” he said.
Mr Barnier rejected suggestions from leading Eurosceptics, including former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, that Brussels was attempting to extort money from the UK.
He said: “It’s not a ransom, it’s not an exit bill, it’s not punishment, it’s not revenge – it is simply to settle those accounts.” Some European Commission sources estimate the bill could be up to £85billion.
Last night Richard Tice, co-chairman of the Brexit-backing pressure group Leave Means Leave, said: “If Michel Barnier continues to make unreasonable financial demands, Britain should walk away from the negotiations and revert to World Trade Organisation rules, which are fine as a base case scenario. The EU is petrified of us doing this, as they fear we will continue to flourish. It is our best negotiating leverage. The sooner this is established, the better for business as we can plan.”
In response to Mr Barnier’s remarks, Theresa May’s spokesman said: “When we leave the EU, the days of us paying large sums of money to the EU will be over.”