By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – The United Kingdom is liable to pay 47.5 billion euros ($56.23 billion) to the European Union as part of its post-Brexit financial settlement, according to the EU’s consolidated budget report for 2020.
The report adds that the money is owed under a series of articles which both sides agreed to as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The figure was reported earlier on Thursday by RTÉ News.
The total amount is significantly higher than expected. The UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted in its March 2018 economic and fiscal outlook report that the bill would amount to 41.4 billion euros.
An initial amount of 6.8 billion euros is due for payment in 2021, the EU’s consolidated budget report added, with the remainder of the amount to be paid later.
A sum total amount of 47.5 billion euros was mentioned in the report as “net receivable from the UK”.
A trade and cooperation deal between the UK and EU was struck in December after more than four years of acrimonious negotiations and lingering mistrust as Britain ended 47 years of EU membership.
On Tuesday, the European Union urged London to consider a Swiss-style veterinary agreement with Brussels on agri-foods to end a post-Brexit ‘sausage war’ row over certain goods moving between Britain and its province of Northern Ireland.
Tension has mounted over trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, particularly for chilled meats, because the province’s open border with EU member Ireland is Britain’s only land frontier with the EU and its vast single market.
($1 = 0.8448 euros)
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sonya Hepinstall)
