‘EU has NO legal claim’ Theresa May should NOT give in to Brexit divorce bill demands

A joint report by the Conservative European Research Group (ERG) and Lawyers for Britain produced a report to show Britain owes nothing to the desperate bloc. 

The so-called divorce bill has been bitterly contested during negotiations with reports Brussels could want up to £90billion. 

But the report showed Brussels owes the UK £9.3 billion, which is a 16 per cent share of cash reserved tied up in the European Investment Bank. 

The EU has demanded Britain continues to pay its £10 billion net contribution until the end of 2020 despite plans to leave the bloc. 

However, the report has said there is no “credible legal argument” for the UK to contribute to the pension deficit. 

It says if the EU does demand payment for the pension liabilities, the UK should be entitled to its share of EU assets. 

The report also says there is no legal obligation on Britain to continue to contribute to the EU’s budget after it leaves the bloc on March 12 2019. 

The study said: “Overall the UK should be entitled on exit to a net payment in its favour, corresponding approximately to the value of its capital invested in the European Investment Bank.”

The ERG chair Suella Fernandes said “the European Commission has no legal claim for a Brexit payment”.

She said: “While the terms for Brexit will ultimately be a matter for negotiation, the fact that the European Commission has no legal claim for a Brexit payment is another very strong card in the UK’s favour.”

Dozens of Eurosceptic backbenchers from the ERG have signed a letter urging the Government not to soften its stance on Brexit. 

The letter urges the Government not to “use a transition period as means of keeping the UK in the EU by stealth”.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said the UK and EU continue to have “significant differences” over the Brexit divorce bill.