06 May 2021

POLITICO: 7 takeaways from Michel Barnier’s Brexit book

Michel Barnier’s new book (all 541 pages of it) takes a detailed look at the Brexit negotiations from the viewpoint of the EU chief negotiator himself. It could also provide a campaign platform if Barnier decides to run in France’s 2022 presidential election

In “The Grand Illusion: A Secret Diary of Brexit” — available in French, with an English version out in the fall — the former chief Brexit negotiator portrays himself as a calm and collected operator during a historic negotiation, regularly trying to “control our nerves” in the face of irresponsible British politicians and officials.

The book offers a painstaking description of the Brexit negotiations, from the “brutal wake-up” call of the referendum in June 2016 to December 24, 2020, when the EU and the U.K. signed their trade deal.

Barnier also waxes lyrical about his love of Ireland, his admiration for the British civil service and for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and his emotional meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who signed a copy of her book “Fascism: A Warning,” to “Michel Barnier, who is undoubtedly tasked with Europe’s most difficult mission.”

Here are seven interesting moments in Barnier’s memoir:

He voted for Macron

Barnier, a former French Cabinet minister, is a Gaullist and a member of the conservative Les Républicains party. But in the book he confesses to having voted for Emmanuel Macron in the second round of France’s 2017 election.

“Even though he does not belong to the Gaullist party, for which I committed myself at the age of 14, I cast a vote, in this second round of the presidential election, to Emmanuel Macron,” Barnier writes, hinting that he preferred Macron’s “positive and pro-European vision” to the “populist discourse” of Macron’s rival Marine Le Pen.

He liked Olly Robbins…

In various parts of the book, Barnier expresses admiration for the British civil service and particularly for Olly Robbins, the civil servant who led the work on a deal on behalf of former Prime Minister Theresa May. Robbins “has the caliber of great British high officials,” Barnier writes. “He understands better than others the consequences of Brexit and he seeks to limit its negative effects.”

Writing about one meeting with Robbins, Barnier details his “admiration” for such a “dignified” official. “I don’t envy them for having above their heads a political class, which … refuses simply to take responsibility for the consequences of decisions and positions they have taken a year ago.”

…but not Dominic Raab

Of all the U.K. Brexit secretaries, Barnier has particular mistrust of Dominic Raab, now the foreign secretary. After Raab tells Barnier to accept his view on a special customs arrangement with the U.K. otherwise there will be no deal, “my heart skipped a beat,” Barner writes. He tells Raab that if that’s the case, then “negotiations can stop right away … And I will prepare myself in the next days to inform the European Parliament and member states. We will note that negotiations failed on Brexit itself.” Raab suddenly retracts after realizing “he went too far.”

“Raab is definitely not a man of nuance,” Barnier writes.

Barnier also mentions Raab’s oft-mocked declaration that he was surprised to find out the U.K. was “particularly dependent upon the Dover-Calais crossing,” writing: “I don’t even want to smile but there is definitely something that is deranged in the British system.”...

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