UK Membership of EU

(asked on 9th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the to the public purse in (a) gross and (b) net terms of the UK's extended membership of the EU to 31 October 2019; and what estimate he has made of the per diem cost of membership of the EU post 31 October 2019.


Answered by
Elizabeth Truss Portrait
Elizabeth Truss
This question was answered on 14th May 2019

The settlement agreed with the EU represents a comprehensive settlement covering all of the mutual commitments between the EU and the UK. The OBR’s latest estimate is laid as part of the wider OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication. The most recent estimate, £37.8bn, was published in the March 2019 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. This analysis assumes an exit date of 29 March 2019

The European Council has agreed an extension to Article 50 to the end of October. During the extension, the UK will continue to be a member of the European Union. While we remain in the EU we will uphold our commitments on the EU Budget, adjusted for the rebate. Similarly, the EU continues to have legal obligations to us as a member state, including in respect of receipts from the EU budget. We will provide an updated estimate of the value of the financial settlement once the UK has left the EU.

The UK makes two contributions per month to the EU Budget which will vary from month to month. These payments are made on the first working day and the first working day after the 19th of each month. As such, it would not be possible to calculate a daily cost of an extension to Article 50 to the end of October.

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