A draft EU negotiating paper, seen by Reuters, that will be put to London when Brexit talks begin following a national election in Britain on June 8 makes clear that suggestions from Prime Minister Theresa May's government that the Union might end up owing rather than getting money cut no ice in Brussels.
The paper on principles of the financial settlement that the EU wants from London on departure in March 2019 sets no figure, and chief negotiator Michel Barnier has made clear it cannot be calculated until the end as it depends on the EU's spending.
Four pages of appendix details list more than 70 EU bodies and funds to which Britain has committed payment in a budget set out to 2020.
Yet the three-page main document made no mention of Britain getting credit for a share of, say, EU buildings, as British ministers have said it should have. EU officials argue Britain was not asked to pay extra for existing infrastructure in Brussels when it first joined the bloc in 1973.
Among obligations Britain will be asked to cover are the funding until summer 2021 of British teachers seconded to schools catering to the EU's staff and diplomats.
Other payments include promises to fund Syrian refugees in Turkey, aid for the Central African Republic, the EU aviation safety agency and the European Institute for Gender Equality.
"The United Kingdom obligations should be fixed as a percentage of the EU obligations calculated at the date of withdrawal in accordance with a methodology to be agreed in the first phase of the negotiations," the paper states.
Brexit is going to be dope...