LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s finance ministry said on Thursday it had paid 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to the European Union, after an EU court ruled that the former EU member should pay billions of euros it failed to collect due to fraud on imports from China.
The European Commission had complained that importers into Britain evaded a large number of customs duties with false invoices and artificially low-value declarations for Chinese textiles and footwear.
In March last year, the EU’s top court ruled against Britain, saying it had failed to adopt the measures necessary to combat the import fraud.
John Glen, the chief secretary to Britain’s Treasury, said that throughout the legal proceedings, Britain had maintained it took appropriate steps to counter the fraud, but had also subsequently increased its measures in this area.
The proceedings relate to 2011-2017, while Britain was in the bloc. It left the EU in January 2020, and fully left its trading orbit at the end of 2020.
“Whilst the UK has now left the European Union and this is a legacy matter from before our departure, the Government is keen to resolve this long-running case once and for all,” Glen wrote in a ministerial statement.
He said further legal wrangling could increase the size of the bill, as interest continued to accrue, and that it had paid three tranches totalling 2.6 billion euros.
“These are substantial sums but represent the final payments and draw a line under this long running case, with the UK fulfilling its international obligations,” Glen said.
($1 = 0.9277 euros)
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
