Brexit divorce bill up to £5 billion higher than UK government expected, EU says

But UK says EU calculations are inexact

(AFP via Getty Images)

The Brexit "divorce bill" negotiated by Boris Johnson is up to £5 billion higher than the UK government expected, according to "definitive" EU calculations.

The European Union's consolidated annual accounts puts the final figure owed by Britain at €47.5bn (£40.8bn) – significantly up on the UK's own estimates during talks.

The bill covers the UK's share of EU debts over the last half a century of membership and includes costs such as pensions for EU officials and the bills for long-term infrastructure projects.

During negotiations the UK government had estimated the cost would be between £35 and £39 billion – as much as £5 billion lower than the more formal figure in the EU accounts.

The first tranche of the payments, totalling €6.8bn (£5.84bn), is due by the end of this year.

Ireland’s member of the EU court of Auditors, Tony Murphy, told the country's public broadcaster RTÉ News that the figure was "definitive".

“While the 2020 EU consolidated accounts published by the Commission are as of yet provisional, the court has completed its audit work on these accounts,” Mr Murphy said.

“For all intent and purposes the figures published by the Commission are definitive.”

The divorce bill is highly politically sensitive in the UK because some Brexiteers do not like the idea of sending money to the EU.

Mr Johnson himself said the EU could "go whistle" if they wanted a financial settlement, but abruptly changed his stance after it became clear a deal could not be done without.

The bulk of the bill is to pay for projects signed up to the UK government, which ultimately accepted the principle that Britain should honour commitments it had made.

In a possible early signed of a brewing row over the payments, thea UK government spokesperson rejected the figure in the EU accounts as inexact and “just an accounting estimate”.

Since signing the Brexit deal Boris Johnson’s government has threated to renege on a number of commitments over trade and Northern Ireland.

A UK government spokesperson said: “This is just an accounting estimate, and does not reflect the exact amount the UK is expected to pay to the EU this year.

“We will publish detail on payments to and from the EU made under the financial settlement in the EU finances statement later this year.”