Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s technical note on a temporary customs arrangement, published on 7 June 2018, whether the UK will make payments to the EU to participate in a backstop customs arrangement; and if he will make a statement.

• We are clear that the days of Britain making vast contributions to the European Union every year will end.
• As an EU member state, the UK remits customs duties to the EU budget under the EU’s Own Resources Decision. As set out in the technical note, after the Implementation Period the UK will no longer have a legal requirement to remit revenue in this way.
• Neither the UK’s technical paper nor the EU’s draft protocol on Northern Ireland makes provision for the continued application of the Own Resources system.
• The EU’s proposed draft legal text on the Northern Ireland protocol, published in March 2018, does make provision for the possibility of a mechanism for revenue collection and distribution, as appropriate. This is a matter for further discussion in the negotiations.