WATCH: UK 'not realistic' about Brexit divorce bill, says European Parliament president
2 min read
The British government is not being "realistic" about the size of the divorce bill it will have to pay to leave the EU, according to the president of the European Parliament.
The Government has so far declined to say how much it is willing to pay, with Brexit Secretary David Davis telling MPs yesterday that Brussels is "using time pressure to get more money out of us".
In comments likely to enrage Tory eurosceptics, Antonio Tajani appeared to criticise the UK for haggling over the exit payment, describing sums of the order of €20bn as "peanuts".
He suggested the "real" figure up for discussion was more like €50bn or €60bn, and said trade talks would not begin until a figure had been settled on.
Mr Tajani told the BBC's Newsnight programme: "We are realistic. The UK government is not realistic. I think we need to be very clear. We need to put the money on the table. We need our money back, as Mrs Thatcher said 30, 40 years ago.
"This is important for us. But we want not euro more and not euro less. This is very clear for us. But we need to pay, this is the third point, then it is possible to start for the negotiations for the new deal."
Asked whether the EU was holding up talks to force an extra €20bn out of the UK, he replied: "€20bn is peanuts, it's peanuts €20bn...The problem is 50, 60, this is the real situation.
Mr Tajani said the talks were being hampered by disunity and infighting on the British side, with different ministers taking different stances.
"We want to know what the UK wants to do. This is the problem. It is not very clear because there are a lot of problems inside the European Union. We are united. I don't know if there is a unity, where is the unity in the United Kingdom? Because there are many different positions. We have only one position, only one negotiator.
"In the Conservative Party, there are different position. This is not good for a good work in the next month. We ask, please, we need a Conservative decision on this. Which is the line to take between the three different position. For us it's important know."
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