The EU’s former Brexit negotiator described it as “inexplicable” and “incomprehensible” that von der Leyen had joined an event held by French President Emmanuel Macron’s political party in October last year. “She came to launch the campaign of a competing list,” Barnier said.
Von der Leyen will need Macron’s support to be officially endorsed by the European Council for a second term running the EU’s most powerful institution.
Barnier, who ran unsuccessfully to be the EPP’s lead candidate against Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014, described von der Leyen’s track record as a mixed bag.
“A useless and dangerous confrontation was allowed to develop between agricultural production and the environment,” he said, a common gripe among the center-right, which is looking for votes in rural areas. Barnier said that for some 10 years, farmers have been “penalized” in places such as Germany, France and Romania.
Door still open to the Brits
Barnier, the former Brexit negotiator, said it wasn’t up to him to decide what the next British government should do, but that his personal position in favor of the U.K. being part of the EU hadn’t changed since 1973.
“I regret that the United Kingdom left, and I still don’t understand it, neither in terms of British interests, nor European. It’s lose-lose,” he said.
“Nobody has been capable of demonstrating, not even Mr. [Nigel] Farage … the added value of Brexit,” he added.
“The door is open,” he said. “The U.K. knows the specifications and knows the conditions.”
