UK faces Brexit bill of £94bn – warning

BRITAIN faces having to pay an upfront Brexit bill of £94bn to leave the European Union, according to a think-tank.

The final divorce bill is expected to come in at between £22bn and £55bn, analysis by Bruegel found.

But the UK could have to hand over much more in advance to cover its commitments and wait for “significant” reimbursements from Brussels, it said.

The Brussels-based economic think-tank’s analysis puts the total bill for liabilities and planned spending for the EU up to the end of 2018, just a few months before the UK is expected to leave, at £622bn.

According to its calculations, Britain’s share, around 12%, would come to £75bn. The EU’s assets total £165bn, which would mean a possible share for the UK of £15bn.

EU spending commitments in the UK amount to £25bn and a rebate after the last budget commitment would be around £3.9bn, it said.

“Depending on the scenario, the long-run net Brexit bill could range from 25.4bn euro (£22bn) to €65.1bn (£55bn). Upfront UK payments could reach 109 billion euro (£94bn), followed by significant subsequent EU reimbursements,” the report said.

“The key question is whether one considers Brexit to be a cancellation of a club membership or a divorce. In the former case, the UK would have no claims on any EU assets but would still need to pay its outstanding membership fees. In the latter case, both assets and liabilities would have to be split.”

The final bill, which will be thrashed out as part of the two-year exit process, will be dependent on whether the EU demands Britain meets all planned budgetary commitments, which includes payments that run up to 2025, or is released from the day it leaves.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last week said he expected the bill to come in at around £50bn.