After years of fighting over Brexit, it was no wonder that half (if not all) of Europe rooted for Italy in the final of the European Football Championship against England last Sunday. But the novelty is that the question, which although it has exacerbated relations between the island of the Queen and the Old Continent seemed closed, is enriched by a new chapter. In fact, having received the disappointment for the home defeat in the Wembley stadium-temple, the British have come up with another one: the latest estimate from the Treasury, published on Thursday, in fact confirms that the Brexit “bill” according to London is £37,3 billion, i.e. just under 44 billion euros. A substantial amount, which the United Kingdom should pay to Brussels as a "severance package", but which in reality, as has already happened in the past (the initially estimated range was 35-39 billion pounds) differs downwards from that requested by the Union European Union to close the relationship.
In this case it is a question of establishing the so-called Brexit Bill, i.e. the balance between claims and debts of the United Kingdom towards the Union. According to Europe, the amount owed is about 4 billion euros higher: the British should pay 47,5 billion euros into the coffers of their former partners and not 43,8, as claimed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. This is a not entirely negligible difference, equal to about 8% of the total. But the United Kingdom's reluctance to pay is not new: already on 9 June, when asked about Brussels' requests, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman had expressly declared that he "did not recognize that figure". Meanwhile, London has already asked and obtained to spread the payment over time: this year it will have to pay only 6,8 billion euros, the rest will then be paid in the following years, provided that a definitive sum can be put on paper. Compared to the very first estimate of the Office for Budget Responsibility, dated 2018, the British have nevertheless taken a small step forward: at the time they considered they owed Brussels only 41,5 billion euros.
