EU hopes deal on divorce bill next week

The EU's Brexit negotiator yesterday denied reports that Britain and the bloc have a deal on the UK's final divorce bill, but said he hoped an accord could be reached next week.

"We read a lot of things on this subject in the press these days," said Barnier, referring to reports in British media that London and Brussels have agreed on the UK's financial obligations but had not settled on an exact amount for the so-called divorce bill.

But he stressed that "we still have work to do, the negotiation is not over on this subject."

The Telegraph has reported that London and Brussels have now accepted the British will pay between 45 and 55 billion euros ($53-63 billion), with the final figure depending "on how each side calculates the output from an agreed methodology".

Meanwhile the FT reported Britain would cover EU liabilities worth as much as 100 billion euros, but if structured as net payments over many decades, that could drop to less than half that amount.

But Barnier dismissed the reports as rumours.

"I see these articles, rumours, information," he said, pointing out that three key issues -- the rights of expatriate citizens after Brexit, the future of the Irish border, as well as the divorce bill -- remain sticking points.

An agreement on the divorce bill would be a major breakthrough ahead of the December EU summit.