Brexit bill must follow 'pub' rules

(Baonghean.vn)- The European Commission said on February 7 that Britain must pay for leaving the EU, just like friends going to a pub must pay for a round of drinks.

Speaking at a daily press conference, Margaritis Schinas, spokesman for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the UK-EU divorce bill was an “essential ingredient” for an orderly Brexit process.

British Prime Minister Theresa May warned of the “complexity and difficulty” of Brexit negotiations at the EU summit. Photo: Independent

Mr Schinas likened Britain leaving the EU to going to a drinking party with 27 other people, so “you can’t leave the party while it’s going on, so you have to pay for all 27 drinks.”

Last week, Britain’s former ambassador to the EU said the bloc had asked London to pay up to €60 billion ($64 billion) to settle additional budget commitments for Brexit. However, the UK only offered a figure of around €20 billion, three times less than the amount requested by the EU.

The process of Britain leaving the EU is irreversible. Photo: Independent.

On February 6, senior EU negotiators held a meeting to discuss preparations ahead of the UK triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, expected at the end of March. The discussion focused on the UK financial services industry and the rights of EU citizens in the UK and vice versa.

French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve became the latest senior EU politician to say the UK must agree to pay before any negotiations on a future trade deal can begin. Both Mr Cazeneuve and Mr Juncker agreed that the terms of a final deal between the UK and the EU could not be better than the agreements on the countries' membership of the bloc./.

Lan Ha

(According to AFP)