MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Clifford Chance law firm released an analysis last week that claims that the European Union and the United Kingdom still have to reach an agreement on the settlement as there is no legal basis to force the UK to pay into the EU budget.
"This legal advice is very important as it shows that any payment to the EU would be a political rather than legal decision," Conservative parliament member Jacob Rees-Mogg said commenting on the report, as quoted by Politico on Saturday.
A Saturday report released by the House of Lords EU financial affairs sub-committee says that under international law, the United Kingdom is not obliged to pay the EU if a relevant agreement is not reached by the end of Brexit negotiations, Politico said.
"They’re saying €60 billion, but where is the evidence? Let’s see it, line by line. Legally we owe nothing, so that’s where we start. After that it’s a question of politics, but legally it’s zero," an influential Conservative parliament member told Politico.
In January, UK Prime Minister Theresa May laid down 12 points of her Brexit plan, saying that she wanted to get the United Kingdom out of the EU single market and to partially leave the customs union. At the same time, she expressed hope the United Kingdom would manage to agree on zero tariffs with the European Union, and continue to cooperate in certain areas.
