UK PM Boris Johnson refuses to pay £270 mn to EU for coronavirus recovery fund

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to cough up £270 million demanded by  European Union for coronavirus recovery. Conservative leer has been at loggerhes with 27-member bloc over sum and has been insisting to cut down amount amid bitter tre talks.

In April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen h unveiled a £2.7 billion recovery fund to help EU members fight  impact of pandemic. While Britain has left bloc, it is still liable to pay a share for this year’s budget under terms of Brexit deal.

A Downing Street spokesperson reportedly said that government will meet its obligations through Financial Settlement but it does t intend to go beyond what it has agreed in Withdrawal Agreement. refusal to pay current proposed amount could furr bitter relations as ongoing tre talks have hit a de end.

' substantial progress'

On June 5, Britain and EU finished fourth round of negotiations without any major breakthrough. EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said in a statement that UK is “backtracking” from its commitments me before post-Brexit talks started in March. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Barnier has said that “ substantial progress” has been me in roundtable talks.

David Frost, an EU viser to British PM, said in a statement that fourth round of negotiations was a little shorter than usual and more restricted in scope. He claimed that talks have been positive in tone but ded that progress remains limited.

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Last month, Frost criticised 27-member bloc for demanding access to UK fishing waters saying it is incompatible with Britain’s future status as an independent coastal state. He said that UK is fully committed to agreeing to fishing provisions in line with Political Declaration but can t agree on a deal that is “unbalanced” and against interests of UK fishing industry.

“It is hard to understand why EU insists on an ideological approach which makes it more difficult to reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” said UK’s chief negotiator.

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(Im: AP)