The EU wants us to pay €60bn for Brexit but UK could go after the Brussels property empire and wine cellar

A major analysis of the Brexit bill published by the Centre for European Reform (CER) and compiled by the FT's Alex Barker, suggested the UK could be left “on the hook for its share of the €143bn of cohesion and rural development spending executed after Brexit”.

A key issue is that eastern European countries will be expecting billions in structural funds but if the UK does not contribute towards this then other member states will have to pay a bigger share. The CER notes: “Poland stands to receive €82.2bn in 2014-20, and €23.1 billion will be paid respectively to Hungary and the Czech Republic.”

The issue boils down to this: “Net-contributors do not want to pay more, and net-recipients do not want to lose out.” Both the rich and the poor countries of the EU will be worse off if the UK can secure a divorce without paying significant alimony. Overall, the EU faces a €241bn bill for projects that have “yet to be paid” under its “reste à liquider” (RAI) system of accounting. According to the CER report: “Britain’s share of the RAL, based on its typical contribution rate, would be around €29-36bn.”