Britain is not under any legal obligation
to pay cash to the European Union after Brexit, a cross party committee of peers
has found.
The
European Commission has threatened to force the UK to make payments worth
£50billion over four years after leaving as part of a “hefty” exit
bill.
But
House of Lords EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee said in a report published
today that “under international law the UK will not be legally obliged to
contribute to the EU budget if an agreement is not reached at the end of Article
50 negotiations”.
The
report is a boost for Theresa May, the Prime Minister, who has been criticised
for saying that she is prepared to walk away from the EU with no trade deal
if talks did not progress satisfactorily.
The
Article 50 process envisages a withdrawal agreement being reached within two
years.
The
report was published based on legal advice from senior lawyers including Paul
Hardy, the Counsel for European Legislation in the Commons who spent four years
as a legal and policy adviser to the European
Commission.
It said: “While the legal advice we have
received differed, the stronger argument suggests that the UK will not be
strictly obliged, as a matter of law, to render any payments at all after
leaving.”
It
added that Article 50 "allows the UK to leave the EU without being liable for
outstanding financial obligations under the EU budget, unless a withdrawal
agreement is concluded which resolves this issue.
“EU
Member States may seek to bring a case against the UK for the payments of
outstanding debts under principles of public international law, such as acquired
rights, but international law is slow to litigate and hard to
enforce.”
But the peers warned that failure to reach
an agreement on financial terms would undermine the Government's aim of securing
continued favourable to access to EU markets.
They
said: “Although there are competing interpretations, we conclude that if
agreement is not reached, all EU law – including provisions concerning ongoing
financial contributions and machinery for adjudication – will cease to apply,
and the UK would be subject to no enforceable obligation to make any financial
contribution at all.” Telegraph.
