Britain will not succumb to pressure from the European Union to respond by the end of next week on the commitments it will make on its Brexit bill, British Foreign Secretary David Davis said on Thursday.
EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Friday gave London two weeks to submit an improved proposal for the settlement of the bill that the UK will be asked to pay for its withdrawal.
There is talk of 60 billion euros in Brussels. The EU is waiting for this question to be answered before the two sides move on to the next round of negotiations in December, more specifically at the start of talks on a future trade relationship, which is eagerly awaited by London.
"This is not the deadline I am holding back," Davis said during a business interest forum in Berlin organized by the Suddeutsche Zeitung. "The next crucial date is that of the (European) Council in December, this is the date for decision-making," he said, referring to the December 14 and 15 summit.
"Michel (Barnier) is a negotiator… Is he negotiating? "Yes, it does," continued David Davis. But "I do not think we are pressured to give a public response next week. "No, certainly not," he insisted.
The money that London will be asked to pay for Brexit is one of the main obstacles to Britain's talks with the EU, right from the start of negotiations in June. The EU is talking about an amount of 50 to 60 billion euros, while London, on the other hand, opposes that the amount can not exceed 20 billion.
This issue is one of the three chapters in which the EU prioritizes divorce negotiations, along with the fate of expatriates and the consequences of leaving for Ireland. Only after it has been established that "sufficient progress" has been made in these chapters will the 27 agree to begin negotiations on a future bilateral trade relationship. The divorce from the UK and the EU is scheduled for the end of March 2019.