The EU is ‘insulting’ Britain by demanding a huge upfront payment before talking about trade, a senior German politician said tonight.
Hans-Olaf Henkel said EU negotiator Michel Barnier was trying to get Britain to ‘name a price without knowing what you are going to get for it’.
Mr Henkel, an MEP and former head of the Federation of German Industries – the equivalent of the CBI – said its view was that Britain should have the ‘best deal possible’.
Hans-Olaf Henkel says the EU is insulting Britain. He was formerly head of the Federation of German Industries
His comments came as Eurosceptic MPs urged Theresa May to suspend negotiations if the EU refuses to discuss trade.
At a Brexit sub-committee meeting on Monday night, senior cabinet ministers agreed to offer billions more in divorce payments.
Mrs May will not put a figure on the additional payments, it is understood. But she will set out a formula for how Britain’s remaining obligations to the EU could be calculated.
Hans-Olaf Henkel says Michel Barnier (pictured) is trying to get Britain to ‘name a price without knowing what you are going to get for it’
That money will be on top of the estimated £20billion she pledged in her Florence speech and estimates suggest it could add another £20billion to the bill.
Yesterday David Jones, a former minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union, said Mrs May must insist at the meeting of the EU Council next month that trade talks begin ‘without further delay’.
He added: ‘If the Prime Minister does not receive confirmation the EU will now start talking seriously about the future relationship, we should tell them we are suspending negotiations until they are ready to do so.
The German politician said the EU was insulting Britain. Pictured: German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Germany’s parliament
‘There is nothing to be gained by continuing to flog a dead horse.’
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said Mrs May should say she is ‘not prepared to discuss any further about money until the EU engages properly on trade’.
At a conference of European Conservatives and Reformists in London, Mr Henkel said: ‘The EU wants from your Prime Minister a price, before the EU is willing to negotiate on trade. Well if you go into a shop you don’t name a price without knowing what you are going to get for it.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith says Mrs May should state she’s ‘not prepared to discuss any further about money until the EU engages properly on trade’
‘So I think it should be enough if your PM says “we will fulfil our financial obligations”. If a French commissioner doesn’t accept it I think it’s insulting an entire nation.’
The Federation of German Industries represents 150,000 companies, including major motor manufacturers. Meanwhile, the EU has been accused of using Northern Ireland as a tool of ‘blackmail’ in Brexit talks.
DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose Westminster MPs give Theresa May a Commons majority, accused Brussels and the Irish government of ‘recklessly trying to use Northern Ireland for their own objectives’.
She accused Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar – who has threatened to veto a Brexit deal – of being ‘reckless’.
Mr Varadkar has suggested Northern Ireland should stay in the customs union after Brexit to avoid a ‘hard border’ with the Republic of Ireland if the rest of the UK leaves.