Research
Barnier raises Irish obstacle as UK moves on Brexit bill
20 November 2017
Bloomberg
Barnier told a Centre for European Reform conference in Brussels on Monday that Northern Ireland will require a specific solution and that it’s up to “those who wanted Brexit” to come up with ideas. In comments that will rile the pro-UK. Northern Irish party that props up Theresa May’s government, he said Northern Ireland already has different rules to Britain. “Unique circumstances require specific solutions,” he said.
EU takes tough approach to Brexit as talks enter key weeks
20 November 2017
The Daily Mail
Michel Barnier told a conference in Brussels that London needs to provide clear proposals soon to find a way for the UK to leave the EU in 2019 but still have a transparent, open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. "Those who wanted Brexit must offer solutions," Barnier told a Centre for European Reform conference in Brussels.
Barnier: UK must provide solution for Irish border
20 November 2017
Financial Times
Michel Barnier said the onus was on the UK “to come forward with proposals” to avoid imposing a physical border in Ireland amid talks Northern Ireland could stay part of the EU’s single market and customs union after Brexit.“Those who want Brexit must offer solutions”, said Mr Barnier at a Centre for European Reform conference in Brussels on Monday. The UK has resisted plans to allow Northern Ireland to become an effective “special economic area” within Britain.
Michel Barnier hints talks on a Brexit trade deal will collapse if the UK doesn’t sign up to ALL European rules
20 November 2017
The Sun
In a speech to the Centre for European Reform which will enrage Eurosceptics, Mr Barnier insisted that any attempt to create new rules after Brexit even on domestic issues such as farming and healthcare will meet fierce resistance from the EU.
Speech by Michel Barnier at 'The future of the EU' conference
20 November 2017
European Commission
Michel Barnier spoke this at our 'The future of the EU' conference, click here to watch or read his speech.
Barnier says EU will not compromise standards in future UK trade deal
20 November 2017
The Guardian
Chief Brexit negotiator tells a CER conference today any move to abandon European laws and regulations will complicate agreement.
EU negotiator rules out special Brexit deal for UK banks
20 November 2017
The Irish Times
The European Union’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has ruled out the prospect of UK financial firms benefiting from a special post-Brexit deal that will give them continued access to Europe’s single market.“Those who claim that the UK should cherry-pick part of the single market must stop this contradiction,” Mr Barnier said at the Centre for European reform conference in Brussels on Monday.“The single market is a package of four indivisible freedoms, common rules, institutions and enforcement structure. The UK knows these rules very well, like the back of its hand. It has contributed to defining them.”
Barnier warns City of London to scale down Brexit hopes
20 November 2017
Financial Times
Mr Barnier argued there would be a risk to Europe’s financial stability if the continent’s main financial centre was outside the EU’s regulatory orbit. While co-operation would be possible at international level, Mr Barnier said this could never amount to the type of access enjoyed by Britain under the single market. “Let’s not have a short memory!” he said, referring to the financial crisis. “We will not compromise on financial stability — we will never compromise on financial stability — in the EU and in the eurozone.” His assessment came in a speech to the Centre for European Reform that highlighted the hurdles remaining if Britain is to achieve “sufficient progress” in divorce negotiations by a crucial December summit.
London loses EU agencies to Paris and Amsterdam in Brexit relocation
20 November 2017
The Guardian
“Brexit means Brexit,” he said, turning Theresa May’s line back on her. “The same people who argue for setting the UK free also argue that the UK should remain in some EU agencies. But freedom implies responsibility for building new UK administrative capacity,” he told a Brussels conference hosted by the Centre for European Reform.
EU nations will block Brexit deal if Britain ditches Brussels regulations, warns Michel Barnier
20 November 2017
The Times
“The UK has chosen to leave the EU. Does it want to stay close to the European model or does it want to gradually move away from it?” he said at the Centre for European Reform in Brussels.Mr Barnier reminded the British government that any future trade agreement with the EU must be ratified in at least 38 national and regional parliaments, as well as by MEPs, before it can come into force.
Have our cake and eat it? ‘No’ says Barnier
20 November 2017
The New European
In his speech to the Centre for European Reform think-tank, he added that it was for the UK to “come forward with proposals” for how to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, raising the possibility that different rules could be applied in Northern Ireland and the mainland. Barnier even used Theresa May’s much-mocked catchphrase “Brexit means Brexit” as he dismissed the “contradictions” of Leave supporters who argue that Britain can continue to enjoy some of the benefits of the single market while ditching its core principle of freedom of movement.
Brexit: UK banks will lose 'passporting rights' after Britain leaves EU, Brussels says
20 November 2017
The Independent
British banks will lose "passporting rights" to do business in the European Union after Brexit, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator has said. Speaking in Brussels on Monday Michel Barnier said that "Brexit means Brexit, everywhere" and that there could be no opt-ins to parts of the single market for certain industries. “On financial services, UK voices suggest that Brexit does not mean Brexit. Brexit means Brexit, everywhere,” Mr Barnier said in a major speech to the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Britain should be a 'RULE-TAKER' to Brussels: Mandelson rages at demands for Hard Brexit
20 November 2017
The Express
Lord Mandelson said the Cabinet has no united vision of what a future partnership with the EU should look like and suggested Brussels should not trigger sufficient progress next month either. In a gloomy appearance the prominent Remain campaigner and chief ally of Tony Blair warned the UK will “never be an equal partner” to Brussels and should accept its fate as a “rule taker”.
Barnier hints EU parliaments will block Brexit trade deal if UK plans too much divergence - Politics live
20 November 2017
The Guardian
Michel Barnier says it is odd to be talking about Brexit at a Centre or European Reform conference about the future of the EU. But he goes on
"Brexit could prove to be a turning point in the European project.
The year 2016 could be seen as a moment of reckoning. It could be the point where the EU realises “no one will do for us what we don’t do for ourselves.”
Barnier shows a slide which he says David Cameron used to use to justify his faith in the single market.
"Brexit could prove to be a turning point in the European project.
The year 2016 could be seen as a moment of reckoning. It could be the point where the EU realises “no one will do for us what we don’t do for ourselves.”
Barnier shows a slide which he says David Cameron used to use to justify his faith in the single market.
'Brexit means Brexit': EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier hijacks PM's phrase as he says City will lose financial passports
20 November 2017
The Evening Standard
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator warned there was no chance of Britain “cherry picking” desirable elements of the single market. Speaking at a Centre for European Reform conference on Monday, he also used Theresa May’s catchphrase “Brexit means Brexit” against her.
Michel Barnier boasts 'WE ARE READY' for no deal - but says UK will suffer outside of EU
20 November 2017
The Express
Mr Barnier spoke at a conference on ‘The Future of the EU’, hosted by the Centre for European Reform (CER) in Brussels. The European Union’s chief negotiator delivered the keynote speech at the day-long event, which marks the launch of CER’s new Brussels office. Also on the agenda is the future of the euro, Brexit, migration and security.
BBC Newsnight: German coalition talks collapse
20 November 2017
Sophia Besch, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform speaks to Newsnight about the collapse in the German coalition talks (from 03.05).
Barnier to UK: Staying close to EU model could be ‘decisive’
20 November 2017
Politico
The U.K. needs to decide if it wants to stay “close to the European model” after leaving the EU or “gradually move away from it,” Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, said Monday.In a speech at the Brussels base of the Centre for European Reform, a British think-tank, Barnier said the answer to that question “will be important and even decisive” for the future partnership “and shape also the conditions for ratification of that partnership in many national parliaments and obviously in the European Parliament.”
Fighting the Trump trade threat: The EU must go through Congress
17 November 2017
EurActiv
The Trump administration’s actions on trade so far reflect a mixture of traditional, assertive American approaches and more troubling new ideas that could have serious consequences, writes Noah Gordon, warning that Europe has a lot to lose in a steel trade war against the US.
'Putting politics above prosperity' – wait, isn't that what the Brexiteers are doing?
17 November 2017
The Guardian
David Davis's ill-advised remark to an audience of German businessmen reveals an alarming ignorance about the way in which the EU is conducting negotiations.