Boris Johnson’s ‘madman’ strategy dumbfounded Brussels’ Brexit chief

Boris Johnson’s ‘madman’ strategy dumbfounded Brussels’ Brexit chief

Michel Barnier openly wondered whether Boris Johnson was pursuing a “madman strategy” in Brexit negotiations and came close to losing faith in the UK’s ability to keep its word during the gruelling talks, according to his diaries. 

The EU’s chief negotiator for more than three years writes that the EU side was dumbfounded by the UK prime minister’s unpredictable approach — which Barnier refers to at one point as “political cinema”. 

Barnier’s diaries, which will be published in French on Thursday and in English later this year, are being released as the EU and UK grapple with implementing the post-Brexit dealsthey laboriously negotiated in the aftermath of Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the bloc.

The EU and UK have clashed since the start of the year on how to roll out a new system of trading rules for Northern Ireland, while France and Johnson’s government are currently locked in a dispute over fishing licenses.

Barnier, who is now mooted as a potential centre-right candidate in next year’s French presidential election, stepped down from his role as chief Brexit negotiator after the UK’s exit from the EU single market on January 1.

His book — The Grand Illusion: A Secret Diary of Brexit — highlights one