EU says Brexit divorce bill 'negotiation not over'

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The EU's Brexit negotiator on Wednesday denied reports that Britain and the bloc have come to an agreement on the UK's final divorce bill, saying that the "negotiation is not over."

"We read a lot of things on this subject in the press these days," said Michel Barnier, referring to reports in British media that London and Brussels have agreed on Britain's financial obligations but had not settled on an exact amount for the so-called divorce bill.

But he stressed that "we still have work to do, the negotiation is not over on this subject."

The Telegraph has reported that London and Brussels have now accepted the British will pay between 45 and 55 billion euros (53-63 billion US dollars), with the final figure depending "on how each side calculates the output from an agreed methodology."

The FT reported Britain would cover EU liabilities worth as much as 100 billion euros, but if structured as net payments over many decades, that could drop to less than half that amount.

But Barnier dismissed the reports as rumors.

The Irish border is one of the key issues in the Brexit negotiation. /Reuters Photo

"I see these articles, rumors, information," he said. "I repeat to you that on these three key subjects of negotiations: citizens, borders and budget, we still need to work," he said in Berlin, referring to the rights of expatriate citizens after Brexit and the future of the Irish border, as well as the Brexit bill.

The aim is to reach a "stage of progress that is sufficient" to find a deal, he said. "At the moment we are not there yet, and we will continue to work," added Barnier.

Anger in UK

Brexiteers and europhiles reacted angrily to the reports.

Pro-Brexit supporters reacted with anger to the reports, with leading campaigner Nigel Farage calling the reported figure "utterly unacceptable."

UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Britain's EU Ambassador Tim Sparrow (L) attend the Eastern Partnership summit at the European Council Headquarters in Brussels, November 24, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"For a sum of this magnitude to be agreed in return for nothing more than a promise of a decent settlement on trade represents a complete and total sellout," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

Meanwhile, pro-EU Labor lawmaker Chuka Umunna said the government's apparent climb-down dispelled pro-Brexit campaign claims.

"This is a whopping great symbol for the impossibility on delivering Brexit on the terms it was sold to the British people," he told BBC Radio 4's Today program.

Deal 'is there'

An agreement would be a major breakthrough as Britain prepares for an EU summit in December where it is hoping to get the go-ahead to start the next phase of talks on future trade ties with the EU.

It would leave two major areas on which the two sides still do not agree – expatriate citizens' rights after Brexit and the future of the Irish border.

File photo of UK Custom /Reuters Photo

"The deal on the money is there," a senior source involved in the negotiations told the Telegraph.

"It's now the ECJ (European Court of Justice) question and Northern Ireland that are the outstanding issues ahead of the Council," the source said.

One key area of contention is whether the 3.2 million EU citizens living in Britain will continue to be allowed to appeal to ECJ jurisdiction or if their rights will be governed by British courts, as London insists.

So far both sides have avoided publicly declaring a clear-cut number for what Britain owes the rest of the EU.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters