Yahoo Finance Final sum on Brexit bill will not be agreed until '11th hour'
Brussels is said to be unwilling to set an exact figure on how much the UK’s so-called ‘divorce bill’ will be once it leaves the European Union.
The reports come on day two of the second round of formal negotiations, which has seen German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel accuse the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier of trying to “punish” Britain.
According to the Press Association, the divorce bill, which is expected to be tens of billions of pounds, will not be agreed by the UK until the “11th hour” of official departure proceedings from the EU.
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The government’s negotiating team is understood to be frustrated that Brussels is not explaining in more detail what it believes the UK is legally entitled to pay.
Last week the UK conceded that it will continue its commitment to any financial obligations to the European Union after it leaves the single market.
The UK and Brussels hope to reach an agreement on how the the financial settlement will be calculated by October’s European Council summit, so Barnier can recommend to EU leaders that negotiations can enter the next stage.
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However, former Brexit minister David Jones dismissed suggestions that Barnier could delay negotiations.
He told Politico: “I don’t think Barnier can stall the talks. I think it’s very dangerous if he does because we’ve got a very, very short timescale for all this and I think people tend to overlook that it’s as much in the EU’s interest as it is in the British interest to get this matter resolved.
“I wasn’t party to those negotiations so I can’t say what our stage of readiness is, but it does seem to me that if the EU is demanding a sum of money from Britain, it has to set out its methodology in great detail and support that methodology.”
