This Chatham House meeting is chaired by Grégoire Roos (Director, Europe and Russia/Eurasia Programmes at Chatham House). This is a high-profile address and discussion featuring Michel Barnier (MP for Paris, former French Prime Minister, and EU Chief Brexit Negotiator 2016–2019).
A decade after the Brexit vote, UK-EU relations are entering a new phase marked by friendly yet cautious engagement. Ongoing disputes over trade, regulation and mobility continue to test progress. These pressures frame efforts to rebuild cooperation, while domestic politics and wider European shifts influence the direction of the relationship.
Join us as Michel Barnier, former Prime Minister of France, discusses the challenges framing efforts to reset cooperation between London and Brussels. From a potentially pivotal 2027 presidential election in France, to wider issues facing Europe and the UK, Mr Barnier will outline potential solutions to overcome these challenges.
This event discusses:
- What priorities shape the UK-EU relationship after Brexit, and where do key tensions remain?
- How do domestic politics in the UK, France and the EU affect cooperation?
- How could political change in France next year influence European policy?
- What outcomes are realistic in the near term?
We meet as Sir Keir Starmer steps down as Prime Minister.
Michel Barnier was one of the chief people to deal with Brexit actually happening. It is very possible for the U.K.. to rejoin the EU.
Brexit is a loser’s game for both sides. Leaving the singe market and custom’s union could have been optional. But they took Brexit to mean to leave everything. It was an organized divorce. The sovereign choice of the U.K. people. The EU is not necessarily weaker but the U.K. most certainly is. According to Michel losing the powerful nation that is the U.K. has affected the EU.
Mr Putin was very aggressive because of the association agreement with Ukraine.
Has euroscepticism faded away? Mrs Meloni s not the same as Mrs Le Pen. Mrs Le Pen congratulated the Brits on leaving European servitude. The EU needs to be strong together against China, The US and Russia.
There is a worry over German rearmament and the pace of that. European defense can be bolstered by bilateral agreements. There is room for increasing agreements with the U.K. from Europe. U.K., Norway and Ukraine ae three countries where important agreements have to be made with the EU.
Under Boris Johnson, Barnier faced four different EU negotiators in 4 years. Will Andy Burnham, who is clearly in favor of the EU, improve the negotiations? There will be no. pressure to rejoin.
The agricultural policy is a key part of the EU. Europe will never be a single nation or have a single language as there are 24 different languages within it at present.
London was the door to the international financial market to enter the EU but now it lies outside.
Are there any practical solutions to the root causes of Brexit?
Growth, unemployment, immigration. All of these are compounded by Brexit.
Nobody has been able to give proof of the value of Brexit. It is a losers game.
The meeting with Monsieur Barnier has been insightful and it clarifies my own personal view that Brexit is a disaster.
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