Michel Barnier wants to punish Britain for leaving the EU by making a deliberate ‘mess’ of Brexit, says senior German politician
Hans-Olaf Henkel warned other MEPs ‘not to listen’ to Brussels’ chief negotiator who he says wants to impose a bad deal on UK
EU BREXIT chief Michel Barnier was yesterday accused of trying to “punish” Britain by making a deliberate mess of the divorce.
In an incendiary blast German MEP Hans Olaf Henkel said the EU diplomat was desperate to prove the UK had been wrong to vote ‘Out’.
And he said the European Parliament’s outspoken Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt was just as bad – and wanted to make sure Brexit was a “catastrophe” for the UK.
The German, once IBM’s top exec in Europe, said: “They would seek to make sure that Brexit is such a catastrophe that no country dares to take the step of leaving the EU again.
“This is a terrible situation for us all.
“My position is that the EU must accommodate the British. It will require give and take on both sides.”
The blast comes as Brexit threatens to become a key part of the German election campaign this summer – as rival camps push for a soft or tough approach to the talks.
Mr Henkel, who sits alongside Conservative MEPs in the same European parliament grouping, said: “Mr Verhofstadt is an ambitious politician who wants to achieve a United States of Europe.
“In my view, he is responsible in no small part for the disaster of Brexit.
“It was his attitude, not typical of most of us in Brussels, that allowed Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson to whip up anti-EU sentiment in the UK.”
The comments came with UK and EU officials locked in the third day of negotiations.
On Tuesday Britain faced the wrath of EU leaders by saying it would wait until the ‘11th hour’ in 2019 before agreeing a figure for the so-called “divorce bill”.