David Davis, pictured in Downing Street last week, dismissed reports that the EU could demand a £40bn Brexit divorce bill as ‘made up’
David Davis has dismissed ‘made up’ claims about the Brexit divorce bill amid reports the EU will demand up to €50 billion.
Theresa May has tried to unblock the Brexit talks by pledging that the UK will pay €20 billion for a transitional period of two years after we quit the EU in March 2019.
Yet briefings from Europe have tried to hike expectations with diplomats and officials reportedly saying the final bill will be between €40bn and €50bn – which translates to up to £44bn.
But Brexit Secretary David Davis has dismissed the eye-watering figures as ‘made up’ and vowed to take on Eurocrats who try to thrust a bigger bill upon Britain.
In an interview to be aired on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show today, he said Britain will only pay for the pension pots and other liabilities we owe money to.
He said: ‘Things like pensions and other things, these are debatable to say the least.
‘The last time we went through line by line and challenged quite a lot of the legal basis of these things and we’ll continue to do that.
‘That doesn’t mean that we want to see our allies and friends in Europe massively disadvantaged in the next few years and that’s what we’re aiming not to do.’
Asked about claims by ‘Brussels sources’, quoted in The Times, that the final settlement could be around £40 billion, Mr Davis said: ‘They sort of made that up too.’
He added: ‘I’m not going to do an actual number on air, it would be ridiculous to do that, but we have a fairly clear idea where we’re going on this.’
Mrs May used a landmark address in Florence on Friday to set out her new offer to Europe, promising to pump billions of pounds into their budget for a transition deal.
Theresa May, pictured delivering her landmark Brexit speech in Florence on Friday, has offered top pay the EU 20 billion euros for a two year transition period
Brexit Secretary David Davis, pictured watching Mrs May’s Florence speech with Philip Hammond and Boris Johnson in an orchestrated show of Cabinet unity, said Britain will thoroughly inspect and, if necessary challenge, the financial obligations the EU try to thrust upon the UK
And she vowed that no European Union state will be poorer by Britain’s decision to quit the bloc.
The Prime Minister’s speech was welcomed by the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier who said it was ‘constructive’ and paved the way for a ‘step forward’ in talks.
But despite the Prime Minister’s overtures, diplomatic sources in Europe have swiftly briefed that they will demand yet more cash.
A report in the Telegraph today reported that once all the complicated financial obligations have been totted up the figure is expected to be ‘about €40bn-€50bn’.
The paper said that privately EU negotiators are still planning to take a tough line on the Brexit bill.
EU negotiators have repeatedly refused to move on to trade talks until ‘sufficient progress’ on the Brexit bill, along with the Irish border and the rights of EU citizens, is made.
Mr Davis also stressed the UK will finally free itself from EU judges when we leave the bloc, but they will still continue to rule during a transition period.
He said: ‘We’ll come out from under the jurisdiction and the lawmaking of the European Union, we’ll have a couple of years which allows people to adapt.’
A Department for Exiting the EU source said: ‘The framework for this period would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations.’