EU’s chief Brexit negotiator ‘will be irrelevant’ to deal
THE European Union’s senior Brexit negotiator is “irrelevant” to the talks and will not damage Theresa May’s chances of securing a good deal from Brussels, government figures believe.
A senior British source said Michel Barnier, the arch-federalist who will lead the European Commission’s Brexit taskforce, would have little influence over the UK’s exit talks with the EU.
It will be far more important to win over key national leaders, such as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and François Hollande, France’s president, than to court the support of Mr Barnier and his team, the source said.
These leaders will hold the real power over deciding the terms of Britain’s exit deal, while officials in Brussels will have only a limited impact on the final agreement, the source argued.
The unflattering verdict from a senior British figure followed concern that Mr Barnier will take a hard line with Britain during the Brexit negotiations when he begins in the autumn.
In his previous role as a European Commissioner for internal markets he pursued policies that were seen as detrimental to the interests of the City of London, such as extra regulation and a cap on bankers’ bonuses.
He has taken a tough stance since the referendum and some diplomats fear he resents Britain for its history of Euroscepticism. However, Mrs May’s new government appears to believe that Mr Barnier can be sidelined. “Ultimately, Barnier is going to be pretty irrelevant,” the source said.
“It doesn’t really matter what he thinks. There is only so much that a taskforce can do in a process like this.
“The final deal will be down to what comes out of talks between Theresa May and other national leaders, especially Merkel and Hollande.”
Mr Barnier is known to be hostile to the “Anglo-Saxon” model of free market capitalism. It has been claimed he resents Britain for costing him his job as a minister in France, when French voters rejected the European Constitution in a referendum.
France called a referendum on the constitution after Britain’s then prime minister, Tony Blair, promised to hold one, although the formal constitution was later abandoned.
Mr Barnier has said politicians in Brussels must ensure “the European agenda is not a prisoner of the British issue”. He has warned there must be no compromise on rules allowing unlimited EU migration between member states as the price for Britain continuing to have access to the single market.