Fascinating interview with Michel Barnier by German public radio. Punchier than usual and clearly done to counter the narrative being set by David Frost, who we've been hearing a lot from recently as part of a pretty effective UK comms effort on Brexit. deutschlandfunk.de/eu-chefunterha…
There's a carrot and stick approach in here from Barnier. On the one hand he's quite scathing of the UK's approach. He says the Brits 'have not understood or do not want to understand' the consequences of Brexit and insists there's no question whatsoever of changing his mandate.
'We continue to set the conditions for access to our own market. The UK will not dictate to us the terms of access to our market for British goods, services, data or for workers and businesses. We remain sovereign.' Says he's 'amazed' at UK position on LPF given what's in the PD.
But on the other, like EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan yesterday, he openly signals he's ready to explore the 'limits' of his mandate and compromise, name-checking LPF, fishing, and governance. But in return the UK must stop asking for 'the best of both worlds for themselves'.
