We’ll pull £1bn a year in aid cash if there’s no deal, UK tells EU
bRITaIN will today threaten to pull the plug on the £ 1billion a year in foreign aid it gives the EU in the event of a ‘no-deal’ brexit.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt will warn brussels the funding will only continue if british aid groups can take part in EU-run projects.
The warning comes on the same day as ministers publish the first of a series of technical notices designed to prepare citizens and businesses for what they may need to do if a brexit deal is not reached.
as part of this, Miss Mordaunt will today write to UK-based charities to explain how britain could stop spending its aid cash through brussels. Last year, £884million of the UK’s £13.4billion foreign development budget was channelled through the EU into humanitarian projects around the globe.
british aid organisations currently run around a fifth of the European schemes. but officials in brussels have been accused of trying to put them off bidding for future cash by warning they would lose funding if there is no brexit deal.
Miss Mordaunt will today tell the UKbased groups that if this happens, ministers will simply stop spending its foreign aid budget through brussels and give it directly to the charities so they do not miss out.
In the letter, seen by the Daily Mail, she points out that UK aid groups are among the best in world and it does not make sense for the European commission to block them from working to alleviate poverty. Miss Mordaunt writes that she understands the charities’ difficulties in applying for EU funding they ‘remain legally entitled to’ in recent months, adding: ‘It is in neither the EU’s nor the UK’s interest that organisations which are best-placed are prevented from delivering our programmes.
‘The UK wants to be a good development partner to the EU. We share a common goal of delivering excellent development outcomes for the world’s poorest.’
Miss Mordaunt said she understood the aid groups’ concerns at continuing projects if the EU withdrew funding but guaranteed the UK Government will step in to help.
The European commission currently requires UK aid organisations to prove at application stage that they are able to fund the delivery of humanitarian contracts should there be a no deal scenario.
Miss Mordaunt will warn brussels that any future contributions are reliant on british groups being able to bid for the cash.
She said: ‘The UK wants to work closely with the EU after we leave, including on development. However, if the UK is contributing to EU funds and projects, UK NGos [non-governmental organisations] must have access to this funding.
‘I am clear that it is not tenable for the UK to choose to fund programmes through the EU without the expectation that UK organisations can compete for the chance to implement these programmes. This principle must be a key part of the productive and effective development relationship we hope to establish with the EU after exit.’
as well as sending her letter to UK-based aid groups today, Miss Mordaunt is expected to write to the European commission.