Name? Michel Barnier
Westphalian identity? French but European in this context
Age? 69
Why is he in the news? Let’s take a break from the exhausting panic about Covid-19 and focus on a different topic we thought we were tired off but some of us desperately wish back to take away our focus from wars and pandemics. Brexit and the negotiations between the EU and the UK.
Why do we care? The UK left the EU on January 31st and we have not missed them since. Just imagine European leaders coming together and discussing the emerging refugee crisis at Greece’s border and next to the Orban was sitting good old Boris blabbing about Boris things. Luckily the work can be constructive without the constant yelling of the British naysayers in the Brexit corner. But with all the topics currently distracting us, it is easy to forget that the transition period between the EU and the UK is ending on December 31st.
Why should you care? Michel Barnier has voiced his frustrations over the British negotiators and how they are not … constructive. The first time negotiations came to a halt was, wait for it, when they tried to decide whether to meet ever two or three weeks… This sounds promising, doesn’t it? Other major issues are free-market without binding standards for the UK, fishing rights, future cooperation on terrorism and whether there will be one or multiple agreements. Exciting right?
Who else cares? The British and the Europeans that actually enjoy this entire European thingy; you know, the four freedoms and easiness in our everyday lives. Reports say that neither Boris nor the EU will blink on some of the issues listed above and when December 31st approaches and issues remain unresolved… then you can prepare for more uncertainty and confusion than we already have.
Any further comments? Wasn’t the time lovely when we got to joke about Brexit all day long and did not need to worry about not worrying about Corona? Those were the days.
