UK Brexit chief Davis dismisses $64.8bn EU payment reports

­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg

UK Brexit Secretary David Davis dismissed as “nonsense” published reports that Prime Minister Theresa May is set to approve paying as much as $64.8 billion to leave the European Union.
May is ready to agree to the total in a bid to kickstart trade talks, but won’t disclose details until after the Conservative Party conference in October, The Sunday Times reported, without citing anyone for the information. Britain would pay up to 17 billion pounds a year to Brussels for three years after Brexit, ending payments ahead of the 2022 general election, the Times added. The newspaper said May’s office “did not recognise” the payment plan.
“There are all sorts of stories flying around,” Davis said on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show”. “It’s nonsense. The story is completely wrong.”
How much the UK owes the EU in leaving the bloc is among the most difficult issues concerning Brexit, with analysts estimating that the EU will put forward a gross bill of as much as $119 billion. Britain’s government acknowledged that it will have to pay, but said it wants to “determine a fair settlement of the UK’s rights and obligations.”
Time vs Money
The EU is trying to “play time against money,” Davis said on the BBC, after the bloc’s negotiator, Michel Barnier, said earlier the talks still had done nowhere near enough for there to be a prospect of moving on to trade discussions after October. “He wants to put pressure on us which is why the stance this week,” he said. “Bluntly, I think it looked a bit silly.”
In a separate report, The Mail on Sunday said that May has been advised that Britain may have to pay up to 46 billion pounds to break the deadlock in Brexit talks.
“We want to leave in an orderly and smooth manner,” Davis said. “There are issues if you just walk away. We’re aiming for a smooth, sensible, amicable exit, which leaves us and the EU in a good position.”
The government is facing challenges to the EU divorce plans at home, with the opposition Labour’s Brexit spokesman lobbying for changes in the legislation repealing laws that took Britain into the EU.
Labour Party also said last month that it wants Britain to remain in the single market and customs union for as many as four years after exiting the EU.

‘First things first’ on Brexit trade step, says EU’s Moscovici
Bloomberg

European Union economy chief Pierre Moscovici insisted on “first things first” in deadlocked Brexit talks and left open the possibility they may fail to move on to trade discussions after October.
The positions of the EU and the UK. “are not at this stage fully compatible and that’s quite normal because we know that this discussion will be long-lasting,” Moscovici told.
Asked whether he expected the negotiations to move on to trade from October onward, Moscovici said: “We must start by resolving the issues that are on the table, then we will think about our future relationship.” He added: “It’s no secret that we think that we need to have a very strong trade relationship with the UK out of the EU, but first things first.”
Earlier this week Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said the talks still had done nowhere near enough for there to be a prospect of moving on to trade discussions after October. The main hurdle is the bill which the EU wants the UK to pay.
The “basic principles” of the EU and the other 27 member states are that “the financial problems must be solved first of all and then we must be in full agreement with our British friends on the citizens’ rights—citizens from the EU living in the UK, citizens from the UK living in the EU and their families,” Moscovici said.
“My friend Michel Barnier is a bit worried about the progress of the negotiations but we still have some time to go, quite a good deal of time to go,” the EU’s economic affairs commissioner said.