page_title: Michel Barnier
section_title: Brexit negotiator
hierarchical_section_title: Michel Barnier / Political career / Brexit negotiator
caption_attribution_description: Following the UK parliament's rejection of the Brexit deal in a vote last evening, members of the European Parliament have underlined that the EU will remain united and that citizens’ rights are Europe's priority. Speaking in a debate in Parliament today, Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said commitments on the peace process and the border in Ireland or on citizens’ rights cannot be watered down. Parliament's lead member on Brexit @guyverhofstadt called on UK politicians to build a positive majority to break the Brexit deadlock. READ MORE ►► &lt;a href="http://epinsta.eu/qfU5" rel="noreferrer nofollow"&gt;epinsta.eu/qfU5&lt;/a&gt; This photo is free to use under Creative Commons license CC-BY-4.0 and must be credited: &quot;CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 20XY – Source: EP&quot;. (&lt;a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="noreferrer nofollow"&gt;creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/&lt;/a&gt;) No model release form if applicable. For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu
context_page_description: Michel Bernard Barnier is a French politician serving as the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom since November 2019. He previously served as Chief Negotiator - Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 TEU from October 2016 to November 2019.
  He has served in several French cabinet positions including minister of foreign affairs from 2004 to 2005, minister of state for European affairs from 1995 to 1997 and minister of the environment and way of life from 1993 to 1995. He served at European level as European Commissioner for Regional Policy and European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, and was vice president of the European People's Party from 2010 to 2015.
  Barnier was appointed minister for agriculture in the Government of France on 18 June 2007, stepping down on 7 June 2009 upon his election as a Member of the European Parliament. He served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services under Barroso. On 1 October 2016, the European Commission appointed him as its chief Brexit negotiator under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.
context_section_description: On 27 July 2016, he was announced as the European Commission's chief negotiator with the United Kingdom over leaving the European Union, under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Commenting on the appointment, Juncker said: "I wanted an experienced politician for this difficult job."
  For the 2020 Trade deal negotiation between the UK and EU, Barnier is the main negotiator, who received his negotiating mandate from the European Council on 25 February 2020.
caption: Barnier intervening in the European Parliament vis-à-vis the latest Brexit developments in January 2019
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