EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker sparks fresh outrage after it emerges he branded David Davis ‘lazy’ and questioned his ‘stability’
Michel Barnier said the question of the Irish border had not been settled and accused Britain of trying to use Ireland as 'a kind of test case'
EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker sparked fresh outrage yesterday after it emerged he branded David Davis lazy – and questioned his “stability”.
Explosive minutes from a Commission meeting two months ago reveal Mr Juncker said Mr Davis’ ‘apparent lack of involvement’ was “jeopardising the success of negotiations”.
And the same notes of July’s meeting of EU commissioners reveal chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier mocking Theresa May for her election blunder.
He “emphasised the importance for himself personally of being able to negotiate with a stable, accountable and authorised interlocutor who was available for the negotiations”.
Yesterday Mr Barnier ratcheted up tensions with the UK even further by accusing Britain of destroying trust in Brexit talks by “backtracking” on its commitment to pay a divorce bill.
And a third EU chief - European Parliament President Antonio Tajani - intervened to call for talks on post-Brexit trade to be delayed until December.
But faced double humiliation after deputy PM Damian Green reminded him he had nothing to do with the timetable and it emerged Theresa May had snubbed his invitation to address MEPs next month.
The latest outbursts in Brussels overshadowed the publication of EU position papers on the EU.
Senior Tories reacted furiously to Mr Juncker’s personal attack on Mr Davis - and said their “bar room insults” exposed Brussels was on the defensive.
Referring to Mr Juncker’s famous love of cognac, leading Brexit backer Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “The Commission’s weak negotiating position has been exposed and the term ‘unstable’ ought to be used with caution in an organisation where the boss is thought to enjoy the fruit of the vine.”
Tory MP Maria Caulfield said it showed Mr Juncker was “more interested in a public slagging match” than making Brexit work - and urged Mr Barnier to “ignore the mutterings of this backseat driver”.
A spokesman for Mr Davis dismissed Mr Juncker’s comments as “out-of-date” and insisted the Brexit Secretary had been “fully engaged and involved throughout the negotiations”.
Yesterday Mr Barnier branded Britain’s current plans to keep Britain’s border with Ireland open as “unacceptable”.
He accused Britain of trying to use Ireland as “a kind of test case” for a future UK-EU customs union arrangement and declared: “This will not happen”.
As he set out the EU’s position paper on Northern Ireland, Mr Barnier said: “What I see in the U.K.’s paper on Ireland and Northern Ireland worries me.”
He said the British government were trying to suspend EU law and the rules of its customs union and single market at the Irish border.
The French bureaucrat also warned Britain it would fail in its attempt to get special access to the single market.
Meanwhile the EU’s trade commissioner slapped down Theresa May’s declaration last week that Britain would copy the EU’s free trade deal with Japan.