Brexit divorce bill

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The term "Brexit divorce bill" refers to payment due to the European Union (EU) from the United Kingdom (UK) when it left the EU (a process commonly referred to as Brexit) to settle the UK's share of the financing of all the obligations undertaken while it was a member of the EU.^[1] In the Withdrawal Agreement, it is officially referred to as the "financial settlement".^[2]

As of July 2022^[update], HM Treasury's estimate of the financial settlement when the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 was £35.6 billion (€42.4 billion).^[3] From 31 January to 31 December 2020, the UK was in a transition period, and continued to contribute to the EU as if it were a member until the end of the transition period, reducing the amount of the financial settlement.^[4] From December 2020, the payments accrue twice a year. By 31 December 2021, the UK had paid a net amount of £11 billion and was due to have paid a further net £3.3 billion to the end of May, leaving £21.3 billion outstanding, with future current payments of almost €900 million a month.^[3]

The UK and EU began negotiations with differing perspectives on the basis for the bill. The UK side saw it as payment for preferential access to the European Single Market whereas the EU saw it as obligations previously agreed to funding the budget round ending 2020 and for its share of longer-range commitments. In December 2017, the negotiators reached agreement on the scope of these commitments and the methods for their valuation.