Michel Barnier: Negotiating Brexit and Building a Future for Europe

Born 72 years ago in the town of La Tronche, at the foot of the French Alps, the last great mission of the veteran French politician Michel Barnier was original: he led a negotiation that he knew from the beginning would lead to a negative result that would translate into the Exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union. And negotiating like this, Barnier admits, “is not easy.” “I was charged,” he says, “to properly organize a divorce.” The two-time minister of his country with Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy has fond memories of Brussels. He was twice an EU commissioner and ultimately responsible for negotiations with London until Brexit was implemented. “It’s an extraordinary experience,” he says before being honored this Wednesday by the Diálogo club in Madrid for defending European interests, “but I’m not nostalgic.”

Barnier, who unsuccessfully tried to become the Republican candidate for president in 2021, returns to the French political scene, stressing that he does not have a personal agenda, that he wants to contribute his experience and “cultivate and nurture” alliances, and with good reason. He was the owner of the farm – for almost everything, but above all to stop what he calls the “adventure of the extreme right.”

Questions. Has the European Union changed course with Brexit?

Answer. We changed course, the British did not. I was in Scotland last week, in London a few weeks ago, and the Brexit debate is still here, with a shift in public opinion raising doubts. The British underestimated the serious consequences of Brexit and in some cases covered them up. The implications are innumerable at an economic, financial, technical, legal, social, human and political level. It was a very serious decision by the British during the referendum, which unfortunately has consequences. But we have changed course. Women [Angela] Merkel once said that the future of Europe is more important than Brexit, and I agree; I think we have to deal with the European problems and then build a new relationship with the British, if they want to.

q What state is Euroscepticism in after the Brexit experience?

R The negotiations are over and now the main issue is the future of Europe and how we prepare for the world to come, even with the English. What positive relationship do we need to build now that they are out? There are lessons from Brexit that I have explained in my book The secret Brexit diary of the Great Illusion (2016-2020) [Editorial Akal]. I do not confuse populism with popular sentiment. In the UK, Brexit has been fueled by deep and serious popular sentiment, social unrest and sometimes social anger, which has been exploited by the EU. brexiter and British nationalists like Nigel Farage or Boris Johnson. But this popular sentiment needs to be heard and understood. It exists in Spain and also in France. That also explains the advance of the extreme right and the extreme left in my country and in many other European countries: it is deindustrialization, the decline of agricultural activity, immigration that is no longer controlled, the feeling of insecurity.

q Does he cling to the need to erect a barrier against the extreme right?

R I know the debate about this in Spain, in Italy… In France we have a very particular right-wing movement, close to the theses of Russia, which is carrying out absolutely insane economic policies that express xenophobic sentiments. I believe that in my country there is neither complacency nor weakness towards the extreme right. I am a member of the Republican party, a Gaullist movement, and we have never compromised, there has never been the slightest soft spot for the extreme right and there never will be. Our political challenge is to rebuild a great movement in France, a great political proposal from the right and the center, from the center-right.

q Talking about the future of the EU: is immigration the big challenge?

R Yes, but not the only one. I said it myself: border control, immigration control, better reception of people who come from abroad and who we want to welcome as economic migrants or refugees. We cannot welcome everyone. That means a better common policy on asylum, visas and immigration. Also a strong cooperation policy with Africa so that Africans, especially young Africans, have a future in their homes. Without a strong European policy there is no solution to the immigration problem. Yes it is a problem, it is not the only one, but it is a serious problem.

q The French government will start the dialogue for a new immigration law. During his campaign for the presidency he defended a moratorium on the admission of immigrants to France. Do you keep that?

R Yes, I have the exact same charges as I did two years ago when I ran in the presidential primary as part of my party. The Republicans will present proposals to the Senate and the National Assembly that go in that direction. I have never confused the freedom of movement within Europe, which is inviolable and must be protected, with the control of migratory flows from abroad. And the moratorium does not mean stopping immigration. It is a pause to review the French procedures that are no longer applied correctly or are deviating, in particular family reunification, expulsions, subsidies. There is a lot of embezzlement and fraud in France. No, it is not about stopping immigration, it is about putting procedures in place so that they are respected.

q He also defended moving the retirement age in the Republican primaries, although his party ultimately did not support Emmanuel Macron’s reform.

R I haven’t changed my mind. I believe that this reform was necessary and that is why at the end of the legislative process – I am not a parliamentarian – I publicly expressed my support for the reform as it is written, after the debates on the proposed changes, in particular by my political party, which He has done a very good constructive job. The Republican deputies did not vote in favor of this text, which ultimately did not obtain a majority. I’m sorry. I have supported this text because I believe that public finances in France are in a very serious situation with a debt of 3,000 million. We have no right to give future generations blank checks, whether it be about finance, debt or ecology. Our generation has a responsibility towards the new generations.

q But the reform came about through an extraordinary measure.

R France is a difficult country to reform and govern.

q Does the approval of such a reform by extraordinary decree without parliamentary consensus compromise the functioning of democracy?

R It is a provision of the French Constitution and many governments, both left and right, have used this procedure. But it is democratic, republican and part of the constitution. Now there is a serious problem in my country, because we do not have the culture of commitment and debate that exists, for example, in the European institutions. We are in an unprecedented situation in France. For the first time since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the President does not have a majority in the National Assembly that supports him. It is an unprecedented situation that requires even more dialogue, even more respect and listening than in the past. You need a culture that is not common in France, namely that of commitment. It means listening to others, respecting them, and sometimes coming to an agreement through debate and dialogue. This culture is not very French and should have been from the beginning.

q In what state of health is the relationship between the street and the government of the republic?

R The situation is difficult. I said important words for me: respect, dialogue, debate. As Minister of the Environment in 1993, I was the French Prime Minister to put two words in a French law that did not exist: public debate. I founded the National Commission for Public Debate. However, in a democracy it is also necessary for the minority to respect the majority. I think that the extreme left in France is not behaving properly at the moment. There are unusual attacks, often inappropriate, on the President of the Republic, who must be respected as a personality; Institutions must be respected. There is an aggressiveness in the French political debate that is not normal and you have to be very careful.

q You lost your party’s primary in 2021. Would you be willing to run again for public office?

R I don’t have a personal schedule. I had the legitimate ambition of being President of the Republic and candidate of my political family, who called another election. I have taken note of this choice and continue to express my ideas. At my age, what interests me most is communicating my beliefs and sharing European, national and regional analyzes and experiences. I am determined to participate in the political debate and defend my patriotic and European ideas. With this patriotic and European title that I have on my Twitter profile, I participate in the reconstruction of a new center-right political proposal in France, which I believe is crucial for the adventure of the extreme right and the choice to be avoided by Marina Le Pen .

Follow all the international information below Facebook Y Gorethe en Our weekly newsletter.