UK May Go on Receiving EU Farm Aid Until 2020 If Payments to EU Budget Continue

Sources familiar with EU-UK Brexit talks confirmed that the United Kingdom may continue receiving farm aid from the European Union for its poorer regions until the end of 2020, according to local media.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom may continue receiving farm aid from the European Union for its poorer regions until the end of 2020 if London agrees to stick to most of its commitments under the 2014-2020 EU budget, local media reported Tuesday.

Sources familiar with EU-UK Brexit talks confirmed that this idea had been on the agenda of talks, the Guardian newspaper reported.

"It would solve a lot of problems and mean there is no hole [in the EU budget] in 2019-2020," a source told the newspaper.

The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union formally began in March. According to article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the United Kingdom has two years to complete the negotiations, and must leave the European Union on March 29, 2019.

In accordance with the EU-UK 2014-2020 budget plan, London could still be liable for a 41-billion pound ($52 billion) bill during a 21-month period after Brexit in accordance with budget commitments signed by former Prime Minister David Cameron.

In return, London could receive $14.6 billion, mostly in agriculture subsidies and aid for UK's poorer regions.

Such a scenario may provoke hardline eurosceptic accusations against the UK government, which has said that London will stop making annual contributions to EU budget after Brexit.

At the same time, the Conservative Party's pre-election manifesto prescribed that it would be reasonable to make contributions into specific EU programs.