#Brexit: Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier gives first press address

Michel Barnier will report directly to the president and will have at his disposal the best Commission experts. He will be advised by a group of directors-general dealing with the issues relevant to the negotiations. Barnier is a very experienced and was widely respected as the commissioner for regional policy (1999 - 2004) and in his second term as commissioner for internal market and services.

This background gives Barnier two great strengths in leading the negotiations. Firstly, as Regional Policy Commissioner Barnier visited every region of the UK and will be aware of some of the issues facing the devolved administrations. Northern Ireland received particular attention from the EU through the PEACE programmes, which continues to receive support through current regional investment funds.

The other thorny issue for the UK will be financial services. Barnier was appointed as commissioner with responsibility for financial services at a time when the EU had a heavy legislative agenda in this area following the financial crisis. There was widespread anxiety at the time that a French commissioner would not share the City of London's light regulatory approach. However, in office he was considered to have acted without fear or favour.

At the time of  his appointment Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP (ECR) told The Telegraph : "We must ensure that the Commission's proposals do not drive financial services firms out of the EU. We must make sure that London remains a thriving global financial centre that benefits savers and investors across the European Union."

This seems ironic now that Syed Kamall, leader of the European Parliament's ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) group campaigned to 'Leave' the EU and as a result is likely to cause great damage to the UK's financial service industry he sought to protect.

President Juncker said: "I am very glad that my friend Michel Barnier accepted this important and challenging task. I wanted an experienced politician for this difficult job. Michel is a skilled negotiator with rich experience in major policy areas relevant to the negotiations, namely as minister for foreign affairs and for agriculture, and as member of the Commission, in charge of Regional Policy, Institutional Reforms and of Internal Market and Services. He has an extensive network of contacts in the capitals of all member states and in the European Parliament, which I consider a valuable asset for this function. Michel will have access to all Commission resources necessary to perform his tasks. He will report directly to me, and I will invite him to brief regularly the College to keep my team abreast of the negotiations. I am sure that he will live up to this new challenge and help us to develop a new partnership with the United Kingdom after it will have left the European Union."

Michel Barnier, as Chief Negotiator, will be ranked at the director-general level and will take up his duties as of 1 October 2016.

Background

The heads of state and government of the 27 member states as well as the presidents of the European Council and European Commission held an informal meeting in Brussels on 29 June 2016 following the Referendum of 23 June in the United Kingdom.

They agreed on the need to organize the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union in an orderly fashion. Article 50 of the TEU provides the legal basis for this process.

Full statement of the Informal Meeting of 29 June 2016.

In line with the principle of 'no negotiation without notification', the task of the Chief Negotiator in the coming months will be to prepare the ground internally for the work ahead. Once the Article 50 process is triggered, he will take the necessary contacts with the UK authorities and all other EU and member state interlocutors.