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May confirms divorce bill, says UK to stay on target to quit EU

Xinhua,December 12, 2017 Adjust font size:

LONDON, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed for the first time on Monday the likely size of the "divorce bill" Britain will pay to leave the European Union (EU).

Addressing MPs in the House of Commons, May told main opposition leader, Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, that the amount agreed with EU negotiators last week was between 35 billion pounds and 39 billion pounds (47 billion U.S. dollars to 52.2 million U.S. dollars).

May added that if there is no deal between Britain and the EU on a future working arrangement, there will be no offer on the table.

It was the prime minister's first statement to the Parliament since a deal was struck with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday to pave the way for the next round of future-relationship negotiations.

The 27 EU member states will decide Thursday whether to accept Juncker's recommendation to commence early negotiations on the next phase.

May rejected a call by Corbyn to rethink Britain's set-in-stone departure date, saying Britain will leave the EU on March, 29, 2019, and will also leave the European single market and the customs union.

She added that Britain will continue to pay its net contributions under the current EU budget plan.

But this is conditional upon a number of principles negotiated, with May adding: "It is subject to the general reservation that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. This means we want to see the whole deal now coming together, including the terms of our future deep and special partnership."

May concluded by saying what had even agreed was not about a hard or a soft Brexit.

"The process ahead will not be easy. The progress so far has required give-and-take for the UK and the EU to move forwards together. And that is what we have done. Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," said May.

She said she believed there was now a new sense of optimism in the talks and she fully hoped and expected the arrangement set out today will be confirmed by the EU later this week. Enditem

 

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