About: Michel Barnier Archives

The stalemate on EU-UK trade talks remains unbroken both sides conceded on Friday (5 June), with the EU again accusing London of attempting to back-track on its commitments made in the Withdrawal Agreement that took the UK out of the bloc in January.

Talks on a post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and the UK appear to be on the brink of collapse after the chief negotiators from the two sides blamed each other on Friday (15 May) r for the ‘stalemate’ at the heart of the talks.

A frustrated Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, came close to accusing London of derailing talks on a future EU-UK trade pact on Friday (24 April), warning that there were “serious difficulties ahead” if a ‘no deal’ scenario is to be avoided in two months’ time

The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator said after the first day of renewed talks with Britain that the bloc is aiming for "tangible progress" by June on the shape of a new relationship before London severs its ties with the bloc at the end of the year.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has the coronavirus, he announced on Thursday (19 March).

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said on Friday (13 March) that he had sent an "ambitious" first draft of what could be a new post-Brexit trade deal with Britain to EU capitals.

The EU and the UK will have to overcome “very serious” differences to agree on a new relationship, chief Brussels negotiator Michel Barnier warned on Thursday (5 May) after concluding the first round of negotiations.

Trade talks between the EU and UK start next week with thorny issues like state aid and fish set to complicate matters. There is also a fight brewing over environmental policies that may make an agreement by year’s end even more difficult to come by. 

EU envoys met Monday (24 February) to try to finalise a mandate for chief negotiator Michel Barnier ahead of what promises to be stormy talks with Britain on its future relations with the bloc.

The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday (19 February) expressed irritation at a combative tweet from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office claiming that Brussels is shifting objectives in upcoming trade talks.

Britain will develop its own system for regulating state aid and controlling subsidies after its post-Brexit transition period is over, London's negotiator for the long-term relationship with the European Union said on Monday (17 February).

Boris Johnson nudged the United Kingdom towards a hard Brexit on Monday, insisting that the UK would not commit to maintaining EU standards on state aid and labour standards in order to strike a new trade deal with Brussels. But he also said London would not seek to "undermine EU standards" or "engage in dumping".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, met in Madrid on Thursday (30 January) to discuss the Iberian country’s main priorities after Brexit, among them taxation and Gibraltar-related issues.

With just days to go before Brexit, European diplomats are already hard at work for the next phase: negotiations to hammer out a future with Britain after its EU divorce.

The European Union will "never, never, never" compromise on the integrity of its single market, its chief Brexit negotiator warned Britain on Monday (27 January), saying London must now face reality after underestimating the costs of leaving.

The UK will leave the EU in January. But the Article 50 process was always supposed to be the easy bit. In 2020 talks will focus on post-Brexit trade relations, with a tight timetable and the threat of no deal.

EU will keep engaging with the UK through the WTO and the UN as both sides work out a deal on their future ties once Britain leaves the bloc, according to the top Brexit negotiator in Brussels, Michel Barnier.

The European Council has asked the Commission to present a mandate to start post-Brexit negotiations with the UK as soon as possible, following Thursday (12 December) UK elections results that confirmed a strong majority for Boris Johnson.

European leaders will charge EU negotiator Michel Barnier on Friday (13 December) with negotiating a close trade deal with Britain, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's apparent election win set the stage for an orderly Brexit.

The ambassadors of the EU27 decided on Friday (25 October) to postpone the final decision on a potential extension of the Brexit negotiations until next week following UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's calls for an early election. 

After the European Parliament rejected Sylvie Goulard as the French Commissioner, rumours suggest that Thierry Breton, the CEO of French multinational Atos, might be in the race. EURACTIV France reports. 

Britain and the EU made headway on Tuesday (15 October) in last-ditch talks on a Brexit deal ahead of a leaders' summit, but with just hours left to clinch an agreement it was still unclear if London could avoid postponing its scheduled departure on 31 October.

Britain and the European Union on Monday (14 October) enter a pivotal week that determines if they are still on course to reach amicable divorce terms -- and when Brexit might finally occur.

Talks on a new Brexit deal have entered a potentially decisive last phase, as officials from the EU and the UK appear to be closing in on a last-ditch agreement that could avert the UK's messy cliff-edge exit on 31 October.