EU will ‘stall’ Brexit talks if Britain refuses bill
BRITAIN will wait until the “11th hour” before agreeing a final deal on the EU’S so-called Brexit bill, it has emerged, as negotiators locked horns over the financial settlement.
As the first round of substantive talks entered a second day, it has become clear that the biggest gaps between the two sides remain over the EU’S demand for a gross €100 billion (£88 billion) financial settlement.
The EU diplomats had reportedly threatened to “stall” the Brexit talks if the UK did not make a serious offer.
Last week the UK conceded it did have financial “obligations” to the EU, but it is refusing to agree hard numbers until the EU side provides legal justification for demands that British officials have described as “ludicrous”.
Among the disagreements is the insistence from Brussels that it will not deduct the UK’S share of the EU’S multibillion-euro asset portfolio when calculating any final bill.
“The EU view seems to be that we have liabilities but no share in the assets, which is nonsense,” said one senior British official.
Both sides have done little to hide their frustrations, with the EU skittish about how it will fill the €10billion-ayear black hole that will be left in its annual budget after Brexit.
The EU has also been briefing that the UK is “not well-prepared” for the talks, a move that is causing irritation in Whitehall, which has spent months developing detailed negotiating positions on Northern Ireland, the financial package and the rights of expats.
Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, has said that “sufficient progress” must be made on these three areas before the EU will discuss trade.
Owen Paterson, the former Cabinet minister, will go to Hamburg today and tell an audience – in German – that “Brexit is going to happen”. Writing on telegraph.co.uk, Mr Paterson said he would tell a conference that “spiteful protectionism” would help no one.
British officials have also risked upsetting their EU counterparts by suggesting an amendment to the schedule after it emerged that one of the original days in August fell on a Bank Holiday Monday.