[Atlantis]

Good choice for this job!

Without the UK putting on the breaks, the EU will regulate the banking sector and clamp down on tax evasion.

Michel Barnier has been appointed as Brussels' chief negotiator for the UK's exit talks with the EU

The European Commission has shown it is prepared to play "hardball" by appointing a former French minister who reportedly holds a grudge against Britain as head of its Brexit negotiations.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commissioner has announced the appointment of Michel Barnier, an arch-federalist, as Brussels' chief negotiator for the UK's exit talks with the EU.

Diplomats have suggested that Mr Barnier still resents Britain after losing his job after the French government lost a referendum on the European Constitution.

France held a referendum on the constitution after Tony Blair, the then Labour prime minister, promised one in Britain. In the event, the referendum in Britain never took place.

Speaking after the referendum vote, Mr Barnier said that he shouldn't be "prisoner to the British question" during Brexit negotiations.

He is also renowned as a defender of French protectionism and is hostile to the “Anglo-Saxon” free market model of capitalism.

Mr Barnier previously infuriated British minsters with his calls for more financial regulation when he held the post of EU commissioner for internal markets and services between 2010 and 2014.

He recently wrote a paper for Mr Juncker which called for an EU army.

Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, said that Mr Barnier is "no friend of the City of London" and that "alarm bells will be ringing".

A diplomatic source told the Telegraph: "It's a sign the European Commission wants to play hardball. He will be a tough negotiator, he is far from a soul mate for Britain.

"As commissioner he was much more regulatory, much more eurozone-centric than we would have liked.

"There are suggestions that he still blames Britain after losing his job as French foreign minister following their referendum. There's a bit of resentment against the UK there."

In June Mr Barnier told journalists: "The first thing is to recreate a dynamic, taking care that the European agenda is not a prisoner of the British issue. For now, we must, of course, work to maintain market stability.

"As for the release of the UK, will be the subject of technical negotiations, legal, financial that will take several years.

"However, alongside this, the French and German leaders must regain the initiative with other countries and the assistance of the Commission in Brussels."

His official title will be “chief negotiator in charge of leading the Commission Taskforce for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom" and he will take up the position on October 1st.

Mr Barnier was previously Brussels’ commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2010-14.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Juncker said: "I wanted an experienced politician for this difficult job. Michel is a skilled negotiator with rich experience in major policy areas relevant to the negotiations.

"He has an extensive network of contacts in the capitals of all EU Member States and in the European Parliament, which I consider a valuable asset for this function.

"Michel will have access to all Commission resources necessary to perform his tasks.

"I am sure that he will live up to this new challenge and help us to develop a new partnership with the United Kingdom after it will have left the European Union."

Mr Barnier said he was “honoured to be entrusted” with the new role.

@layman, The Telegraph does make the connection between Tony Blair and the French referendum on the EU constitution, which you didn't believe when I told you previously. Brits can be honest when it suits their purpose.

[Glen]

As I recall, the UK referendum on the constitution was dropped when the EU gave up on that treaty. The EU then returned to backroom deals where they compiled a replacement treaty that did not require public approval.

As the EU president is not publicly elected, does the EU conclude it is unnecessary to monitor the president's approval ratings? The appointment of Barnier is a reflection on the appointment of President Juncker. The authoritarian promotion of a federal EU with its own army is unpopular throughout Europe, and these topics are not close to widely advocated EU principles such as inclusiveness and free trade.

At the end of the day, UK delegates are going to scrutinise legality of positions taken, and that is a process the likes of Juncker are not familiar with.

[Baff]

The UK referendum was dropped when polling suggested it would be lost by a landslide.

[noemon]

Juncker was elected, not appointed.

The [s]authoritarian[/s] promotion of a federal EU with its own army is unpopular throughout Europe

I highly doubt that.

And the EU did not give up on the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty was ratified.

[layman]

"There are suggestions that he still blames Britain after losing his job as French foreign minister following their referendum. There's a bit of resentment against the UK there."

Talk about scapegoating

[noemon]

The sensationalism of the Telegraph is to be taken with a grain if salt.

This should read:

"The Telegraph is talking out of its own ass, cause they know that Barnier is a hardliner, so here is some trivia we came up with"

[Baff]

Agreed the Torygraph want to make a story of any thing they can stretch into one.
That said Juncker did turn out to be the total arse they had portrayed him as.
There would have been no Brexit without Juncker. But he couldn't cut a deal. Too proud and too stupid.




So is he a good negotiator or just another serial loser from the EU?

Let's face it, he will have to be. Fate has dealt his career another cruel hand.

[Atlantis]

As I recall, the UK referendum

The UK has always tried to abort the EU constitution, but since you won't be a very popular member of a club if you are the eternal nay-sayer, the wily civil servants of Whitehall kept a low profile and let others oppose the constitution. The Poles and Spanish opposed the constitution in its final form because it didn't have a reference to Christianity. Only two days after the Spanish and Poles finally gave up their opposition, Tony Blair announced that he would call a referendum on the constitution. It was that move that killed the constitution, since it forced the French to call their own referendum. That link, which was obvious at the time, is clearly admitted in the Telegraph and by Barnier's alleged grudge against the Brits, even if most Brits will usually deny it.

[Glen]

Juncker was elected, not appointed.

The EU President is chosen by a consensus of national heads of government. He is not publicly elected in any way resembling the elections of a US President.

The former prime minister of Luxembourg is facing calls to resign from the top EU post, an appointment that David Cameron unsuccessfully tried to block.

Mr Juncker was confirmed as the official nominee at the end of a tense lunch in Brussels during which Mr Cameron told EU leaders they could “live to regret” their decision. The Prime Minister has warned European leaders including Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, that it could push Britain towards EU exit.

Pressure is building on Jean-Claude Juncker to resign as President of the European Commission following the UK referendum, reports EU news website Euroactiv.

The leading German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung also weighed in, with a comment piece urging Mr. Juncker to step down. That was followed by the Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek saying that Juncker should have done more to persuade Britain to remain in the EU. “At the moment, I don’t see the president of the European Commission as the right man for the job,” Zaoralek said.

He also said the EU Commission president did not do enough to prevent the loss of Britain from the EU: “I would imagine the Commission is led by an honourable, trustworthy man ...

I stopped reading at that point. The chronology is clear to see, as are the widely reported multiple scandals in Luxembourg that occurred under the watch of PM Juncker.

[Atlantis]

There would have been no Brexit without Juncker.

Then, why do you folks keep on nagging if he fulfilled your heart's desire?

You should send him a crate of vintage Medoc instead.

But I guess you guys are not yourself if you can't grumble. Must be that terrible fog on your cold and wind-swept rocks out in the ocean. That'll get down the best in the end.

Ah Baff, wouldn't it be nice to have a bit of Mediterranean sun? Petty you won't be able to afford it anymore with the pound going into the cellar

[Beren]

Germany and France(+Brussels) seem to have decided to play good cop/bad cop routine as a negotiation tactic against the UK.

Hardly surprising the bad cop will be a Frenchman with a grudge against Britain.

[noemon]

The EU President is chosen by a consensus of national heads of government. He is not publicly elected in any way resembling the elections of a US President.

Juncker was elected by the EPP party to stand as its leader and the EPP won the European elections.

The European People's Party (EPP) had Juncker as its lead candidate, or Spitzenkandidat, for the presidency of the Commission in the 2014 elections. The EPP won 220 out of 751 seats in the parliament. On 27 June the European Council officially nominated Juncker for the position,[2][3][4] and on 15 July the European Parliament elected him with a majority of 422 votes from a total of 729 cast.[5]

Just because Cameron tried but failed to block him and the entire Britain still has sour grapes over that, it does not mean that Juncker was appointed.

[Glen]

The UK has always tried to abort the EU constitution, but since you won't be a very popular member of a club if you are the eternal nay-sayer, the wily civil servants of Whitehall kept a low profile and let others oppose the constitution. The Poles and Spanish opposed the constitution in its final form because it didn't have a reference to Christianity. Only two days after the Spanish and Poles finally gave up their opposition, Tony Blair announced that he would call a referendum on the constitution. It was that move that killed the constitution, since it forced the French to call their own referendum. That link, which was obvious at the time, is clearly admitted in the Telegraph and by Barnier's alleged grudge against the Brits, even if most Brits will usually deny it.

Interesting and irrelevant detail. Being resentful towards the UK, on the basis that the French electorate told him he was wrong, is lunacy.

Then, why do you folks keep on nagging if he fulfilled your heart's desire?

Juncker opposed everything the UK wanted the EU to become: an accessible, equitable, and democratic association of sovereign states.

[Baff]

@ Atlantis.
I haven't been able to afford a foreign holiday since we joined the EU.
Foreign holiday. As if.

Although I prefer Californian sun myself. And I'd like to try Japanese sun next.

I'm glad to be out and glad to be negotiating with people who want to play hardball but bring no bat. It just makes it easier to get what I want which is none of my government making deals with any of these people.



We make no apologies to the French government for it's holding a referendum and then ignoring the results. We were about to do the exact same thing here.
But they found a better way to cheat us.

[noemon]

Juncker opposed everything the UK wanted the EU to become: an accessible, equitable, and democratic association of sovereign states.

Is this comic relief time?

Should I even dare ask you, what on earth are you talking about?

Interesting and irrelevant detail. Being resentful towards the UK, on the basis that the French electorate told him he was wrong, is lunacy.

It is indeed, that's some Telegraph non-sense right there.

[Baff]

Simple. In order for the UK to win a EU referendum, juncker had to give up free movement of people.
But he wouldn't. So he lost.

And now the whole EU is going to abandon free movement of people anyway.
So he really, really lost.

He could have been a leader, the bringer of progress. Instead he stood in it's way and his dreams have crumbled and the UK is now leading the EU .... from outside!!!
In a way that it simply never could from within.

Think how big the EU could become if it was a voluntary organisation subscribed to by individuals. 100's of millions of willing enthusiastic members. Their own courts in every country. Their own laws in every country. A truly global movement able to achieve massive co-operative endeavours.
How many users Facebook, how many customers Amazon? What borders does Al Quaida have? How come American income tax is able to be collected from Americans working abroad? How come Judge Judy's court is legally binding despite her not being a state appointed judge?


But no. Just fascistland again. Doomed to be destroyed by it's neighbours. Again.
Grats Juncker. Epic negotiation to keep the UK on board. You really gave it your best shot.


In order to be a big church, you must be a liberal church. But fascists hate liberals. They despise liberty. So they can't hold large societies together.

[noemon]

It is not up to Juncker to do that. All 28 countries need to ratify such a change in the treaties and that is never going to happen.

[Glen]

Juncker was elected by the EPP party to stand as its leader and the EPP won the European elections.

The EPP nominated Juncker by way of a party vote. Nominations pass to the European heads of state for approval and appointment. Historical evidence underscores the approval process:

Chirac insisted that the president must speak French and come from a member state that is in the eurozone and the Schengen passport-free area.

..entire Britain still has sour grapes over that..

Dislike in the UK stems not from who gets the job, but the manner in which they get it. Many in the UK who are pro-Europe still oppose, on principle, the existing EU institutions and the processes that those institutions follow.

[noemon]

The EPP nominated Juncker by way of a party vote. Nominations pass to the European heads of state for approval and appointment. Historical evidence underscores the approval process.

You forgot 2 of the steps, after the EPP nominated Juncker, the EPP won the European elections by the people, the European Parliament elected him by majority, and then EU heads of State ratified it. From the 28 countries, only 2 voted against Juncker, that is including Britain.

That is not an appointment by any stretch of the term, nor is it anti-democratic.

[Glen]

Should I even dare ask you, what on earth are you talking about?

Another time perhaps.. but very briefly, the UK fears the creation of a super-state. Any incarnation of the EU that promotes monetary, fiscal and economic union in Eurozone before it has learned how to directly elect its president will drift further from the heart and minds of British onlookers.