UK will only pay half of the £1.7bn bill to EU says Osborne

The UK will only have to pay half of the £1.7bn budget surcharge demanded by the European Union, Chancellor George Osborne has said.

Speaking in Brussels, Mr Osborne said the UK would make two payments next year totalling £850m instead of £1.7bn in a lump sum by December.

He said the agreement was "far beyond what anyone expected us to achieve" and was a "result for Britain".

But BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said the deal would be scrutinised.
He said the Treasury was claiming to have cut the 2.1bn euro top-up charge, demanded by Brussels, in half by ensuring the UK's rebate applies to the payment.

Mr Osborne welcomed the agreement after a four-hour meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, in which it was also agreed that the UK would pay the additional sum in instalments up to September 2015.


BBC News