Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck had a front row seat in the Brexit negotiations. In this frank and uncompromising account, De Rynck tells the EU’s side of the story and seeks to dispel some of the myths and spin that have become indelibly linked to the Brexit process. From the mood in the room to the technical discussions, he gives an unvarnished account of the deliberations and obstacles that shaped the final deal.

De Rynck demonstrates how the EU-27’s unity held firm throughout, while the UK vacillated, changed negotiators, changed prime ministers and changed their aims and tactics. Attempts by the UK to run down the clock and issue ultimatums to force the EU to acquiesce are shown to have had no effect on the course of events. Instead Barnier’s team was successful in protecting EU interests, in fulfilling the mandate defined by 27 national governments while still agreeing different forms of Brexit with two UK prime ministers.

For the EU, Brexit was not, as some UK commentators and politicians liked to portray it, a fight with the UK. It was a fight to get a deal that worked for the EU.

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Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck had a front row seat in the Brexit negotiations. In this frank and uncompromising account, De Rynck tells the EU’s side of the story and seeks to dispel some of the myths and spin that have become indelibly linked to the Brexit process. From the mood in the room to the technical discussions, he gives an unvarnished account of the deliberations and obstacles that shaped the final deal.

De Rynck demonstrates how the EU-27’s unity held firm throughout, while the UK vacillated, changed negotiators, changed prime ministers and changed their aims and tactics. Attempts by the UK to run down the clock and issue ultimatums to force the EU to acquiesce are shown to have had no effect on the course of events. Instead Barnier’s team was successful in protecting EU interests, in fulfilling the mandate defined by 27 national governments while still agreeing different forms of Brexit with two UK prime ministers.

For the EU, Brexit was not, as some UK commentators and politicians liked to portray it, a fight with the UK. It was a fight to get a deal that worked for the EU.

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Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

by Stefaan De Rynck
Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

by Stefaan De Rynck

eBook

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Overview

As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck had a front row seat in the Brexit negotiations. In this frank and uncompromising account, De Rynck tells the EU’s side of the story and seeks to dispel some of the myths and spin that have become indelibly linked to the Brexit process. From the mood in the room to the technical discussions, he gives an unvarnished account of the deliberations and obstacles that shaped the final deal.

De Rynck demonstrates how the EU-27’s unity held firm throughout, while the UK vacillated, changed negotiators, changed prime ministers and changed their aims and tactics. Attempts by the UK to run down the clock and issue ultimatums to force the EU to acquiesce are shown to have had no effect on the course of events. Instead Barnier’s team was successful in protecting EU interests, in fulfilling the mandate defined by 27 national governments while still agreeing different forms of Brexit with two UK prime ministers.

For the EU, Brexit was not, as some UK commentators and politicians liked to portray it, a fight with the UK. It was a fight to get a deal that worked for the EU.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781788215701
Publisher: Agenda Publishing
Publication date: 01/24/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 8 MB

About the Author

Stefaan De Rynck was a senior advisor to Michel Barnier, the Brexit Negotiator for the European Union. He has worked as an EU civil servant on financial regulation, the single market, transport policy, sustainable urban development and on EU Treaty changes. He has a PhD in political and social sciences from the European University Institute in Florence and teaches at the Public Governance Institute of the University of Leuven in Belgium.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Peter Foster

Chronology

Introduction

Part I: Uniting the EU (June 2016–December 2017)

1. No negotiation without notification

2. More glue for uniting the EU

3. Brexit bill: show EU the money

4. Protecting citizens’ rights: which rights, which citizens?

Q. How do we explain the unity of the EU?

Part II: On the elusive search for a bespoke relationship (July 2016–November 2018)

5. The transition period (aka “a vassal state”)

6. The Barnier staircase from Norway to Canada: it is cold outside of the EU

7. Theresa May wants a common rulebook on UK terms

8. The Salzburg summit, sound but no music

Q. Was Mutti Merkel tougher than the rest?

Part III: On the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland (June 2017–December 2020)

9. The origins of the backstop

10. Theresa May’s Pyrrhic victory

11. Boris Johnson meets Brexit reality

12. Johnson agrees to customs checks in the Irish Sea

Q. Did the EU fail to understand Northern Ireland?

Part IV: The journey towards the meaning of Brexit (2020– )

13. The UK leaving global Europe: strategic myopia by the EU?

14. The rollercoaster ride to a level playing field

15. Frosty negotiations on a new relationship

Q. On the art of the deal?

Conclusion

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