In the case of a "hard" exit by the United Kingdom from the EU and if, as Boris Johnson threatened, London did not honour its financial commitments, the Belgian contribution to the European budget would increase by about 500 million euros, according to calculations by an economist at the University of Ghent mentioned in L'Echo on Tuesday.
If the United Kingdom left the European Union without paying its bill, and if the bloc's expenditure was not adjusted, Belgium would have in excess of 500 million euros a year more to pay into the community budget, according to University of Ghent (UGent) economist Herman Matthijs, who published a budgetary analysis for think tank Itinera Institute on Monday.
In 2019, for example, the United Kingdom paid 17.49 billion euros into the budget. The Belgian share of the European GDP, without the British contribution, is 3.34%. It would, therefore, have to foot a bill amounting to 584 million euros over the year.
The Brussels Times
