As the triggering of the much
spoken about Article 50 draws nearer, it is becoming clearer that not only the
UK is ready to surprise the EU with Theresa May’s hard Brexit stance. EU
leaders seem to be ready as well with their own point to be presented to the UK
once Article 50 is triggered.
This is because Britain has been
given early warning by Jean-Claude Juncker that there will be no EU exit at "zero
cost" and any trade deal will take years, and that the UK will be landed
with a “very hefty bill.”
The EU Chief went further to
state that UK/EU trade deal post Brexit would take several years, as against
the anticipated two years being promised by the British PM.
Juncker stressed that before the
UK finally leaves the EU, it must first of all pay its own share of EU spending
which were agreed upon prior to Brexit.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Juncker
said: "The British should know this, they know this already, that it will
not be at a discount or at zero cost. The British must respect commitments they
were involved in making.
"So the bill will be, to put
it a bit crudely, very hefty."
Recall that the former UK
ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers told MPs last month that the UK will end
up having to pay the EU up to €60bn (£51bn) to leave.
He also said he thought it would
be the "early to mid 2020s" before a trade deal with the EU was
ratified.
Mr Juncker said: "We need to
settle our affairs not with our hearts full of a feeling of hostility, but with
the knowledge that the continent owes a lot to the UK.
"Without Churchill, we would
not be here - we mustn't forget that, but we mustn't be naive."
The Leave campaign claim that the
£350m a week paid to the EU by the UK would be returned on exit was key in bringing
out the Brexit vote.
A large bill that could see the
UK continue paying out to the EU would be unpopular with a public promised an
imminent reversal of cash.
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