SHARE
COPY LINK

FEATURE

Barnier book tells inside Brexit story ahead of possible bid for French presidency

The EU's pointman on Brexit, Michel Barnier, releases a book on Thursday recounting the insider track on Britain's acrimonious departure and teasing his ambition to become France's next president.

Barnier book tells inside Brexit story ahead of possible bid for French presidency
Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Photo: John Thys/AFP

Written with his trademark courtesy, the book, The Grand Illusion: A Secret Diary of Brexit will disappoint those hoping for salacious revelations from his four years of negotiating with UK counterparts to fix the terms of the Brexit divorce and the follow-up trade pact.

Despite holding copious notes from a period that saw Brussels and London butt heads over everything from citizens’ rights, money, Northern Ireland, fishing, energy links and import-export regimes, Barnier mostly couches his criticism in insinuation.

For instance, he compliments former British prime minister Theresa May, whose proposed Brexit plan was thwarted by the UK parliament, as “a courageous and tenacious woman surrounded by many men who put their personal ambitions ahead of their country”, according to the French edition of the book.

This contrasts with current British leader Boris Johnson – and May’s predecessor David Cameron, who called the 2016 Brexit referendum – who, Barnier says, bear “a real responsibility before the history of their country”.

Nigel Farage, the former British MEP who played a key role in popularising Brexit, was “just as cordial and polite in private as he was violent and demagogic in public”, writes Barnier.

Barnier describes clandestine manoeuvrings during the EU-British talks as well as some stab-in-the-back politics in Brussels. He writes of leaked information, secretive meetings organised with 15 minutes’ notice, surprise phone calls from the other side, and sealed anonymous missives, while in public gifts and friendly words were exchanged.

The closing stages of the EU-UK negotiations, he said, were marked by British “smokescreens” thrown up in an effort to gain leverage.

A last-minute British proposal on fishing introduced just days before a deadline ran out on producing the trade and cooperation agreement was a bluff, he said, a document “filled with traps, false compromises and backsliding”.

His EU team was forced to take it apart, step by step, to the point of “exhaustion”.

The 70-year-old – a former EU commissioner and French minister who has now retired from Brussels – has been multiplying French media appearances and photo ops widely seen as setting the ground for a possible presidential bid.

His decision on whether to run or not in France’s 2022 presidential election is expected to be revealed in autumn.

In the meantime, readers can take what they will from a closing exhortation in his book: “Together, we are laying the base for a new prosperity…. Our work starts with France.”

The English translation of the book is due out in October.

Member comments

  1. Johnson’s on a roll, he’s got everything he needs , the EU has one major fault, it can’t say no, and re fishing, Brexit does mean that the UK waters belong to the UK

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TRAVEL NEWS

EES: Eurostar could limit services over new biometric passport checks

Eurostar could be forced to cut the number of trains when the EU's new biometric border checks (EES) are rolled out in October, the owner of London's St Pancras International Station has warned.

EES: Eurostar could limit services over new biometric passport checks

HS1, the owner of the station and operator of the high-speed line between London and the Channel tunnel, is the latest body to raise concerns over the impact on travel of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) checks that are set to come into force in October 2024.

The new system which requires citizens from outside the EU or Schengen area to register before entering the zone would lead to long delays and potential capping of services and passenger numbers, HS1 warned.

The company said it needed nearly 50 new EES kiosks to process passengers but the French government had only proposed 24.

In evidence to the European scrutiny select committee, HS1 wrote: “We are told that the proposed kiosks are ‘optional’ as the process can be delivered at the border, but without about 49 additional kiosks located before the current international zone [at St Pancras] there would be unacceptable passenger delays of many hours and potential capping of services.”

With just 24 kiosks, Eurostar would be unable to process all passengers, particularly at the morning peak, and this could “lead to services having to be capped in terms of passenger numbers”, HS1 warned, adding that simple space restrictions at St Pancras station would make the EES difficult to implement.

The EES will register non-EU travellers who do not require a visa (those with residency permits in EU countries do not need to register but will be affected by delays) each time they cross a border in or out of the Schengen area. It will replace the old system of manual passport-stamping.

It will mean facial scans and fingerprints will have to be taken in front of border guards at the first entry into the Schengen area.

Travel bosses have repeatedly raised the alarm about the possible delays this would cause, especially at the UK-France border, which is used by 11 million passengers each year who head to France and other countries across Europe.

Last week The Local reported warnings by officials that the new checks could lead to 14-hour queues for travellers heading to France.

Sir William Cash, Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee, said: “Queues of more than 14 hours; vehicles backed up along major roads; businesses starved of footfall: this evidence paints an alarming picture of the possible risks surrounding the Entry-Exit System’s implementation.

“Clearly, this policy could have a very serious impact, not only for tourists and travel operators but also for local businesses. I implore decision makers on both sides of the Channel to take note of this evidence.”

READ ALSO: What affect will the EES border system have on travel to France?

The Port of Dover has already been struggling with the increased checks required since Brexit and there are fears the situation could be even worse once the EES starts to operate.

Given the possible impacts, the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee last year launched an inquiry calling for views by affected entities with deadline for replies on January 12th 2024.

SHOW COMMENTS