UK refuses draft Brexit bill without EU trade agreement

The United Kingdom will pay the divorce bill with the European Union only if a trade agreement is reached, said the new British Brexit Minister Dominic Raab in an interview to be released on Sunday.

A "certain conditionality" between the payment of the invoice and the commercial agreement. Eurosceptic Dominic Raab, who replaced July 9 David Davis, disagreeing with Prime Minister Theresa May's guidance, said a "certain conditionality between the two" was needed. He explained that the Article 50 mechanism [du traité de Lisbonne, sur le processus de sortie] used to trigger the exit procedure from the United Kingdom provides further details concerning the agreement.

"Article 50 requires (…) that 'There will be a future framework agreement for the relationship we will have [avec l’UE] in the future, so the two are bound together,' said Dominic Raab at Sunday Telegraph (in English). "You can not have on one side a part fulfilling all the conditions and on the other a part that does not fulfill them, or that goes slowly, or that does not engage," added the minister. "So I think we need to make sure of a certain conditionality between the two," he argued.

A financial agreement questioned. So far, the UK government has sent conflicting messages regarding the Brexit Financial Regulation as part of an agreement on the UK's exit modalities from the end of March 2019. The British Prime Minister In May, Theresa May agreed to a financial deal worth 35 to 39 billion pounds sterling (39-44 billion euros) which, according to the ministers, depended on the establishment of future commercial relations. This agreement was soon challenged by members of the government.

Finance Minister Philip Hammond, a spokesman for the business community in the government, however, considered it "inconceivable" that London does not honor its financial commitments to the EU even in the absence of a trade agreement, stressing that it was not "a credible scenario."

An agreement needed before October 2018. The UK is due to leave the EU on March 30, but both parties are expected to reach a divorce agreement by the end of October to organize the separation, lay the groundwork for their future relationship and give the time to Parliament and national parliaments to ratify the text. Dominic Raab met for the first time on Friday with Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator. Europeans are worried about the stalling of internal discussions and internal challenges to Theresa May's strategy.