share this article!

Flags of the United Kingdom and the European Union are displayed in Brussels, Belgium, ahead of a meeting between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on December 9, 2020. REUTERS/File Photo: Olivier Hoslet/Pool Reuters, July 8 – According to the European Union, the United Kingdom owes the EU 47.5 billion euros ($56.2 billion) as part of the post-Brexit financial settlement. The money is required under a number of articles that both sides agreed to as part of the Brexit separation deal, according to the EU’s consolidated budget report for 2020. The UK Treasury, on the other hand, insisted that the Brexit divorce settlement stayed within its earlier central range of 40.74 billion euros to 45.40 billion euros, according to a report published late Thursday by the Financial Times. A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately returned. The figure of 47.5 billion euros is much greater than projected. In its March 2018 economic and fiscal outlook report, the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated a cost of 41.4 billion euros. According to the EU’s consolidated budget report, an initial payment of 6.8 billion euros is due in 2021, with the remaining to be paid subsequently. The report mentions a total amount of 47.5 billion euros as “net receivable from the UK.” After more than four years of tense negotiations and persistent mistrust, the UK and EU reached a trade and cooperation agreement in December, ending Britain’s 47-year membership in the EU. The European Union pushed London on Tuesday to adopt a Swiss-style veterinary agreement with Brussels on agri-foods to avert a post-Brexit “sausage war” over some items flowing between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. find out more Because Northern Ireland’s open border with EU member Ireland is Britain’s only land border with the EU and its enormous single market, tensions have risen over trading agreements, notably for chilled meats. (1 dollar = 0.8448 euros) Kanishka Singh contributed reporting from Bengaluru, while Chizu Nomiyama, Sonya Hepinstall, and Richard Pullin edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

share this article!