Brexiters in general and Nigel Farage and his Ukip followers in particular, Barnier writes, had simply behaved “irresponsibly, with regard to the national interests of their own country. How else could they call on people to make such a serious choice without explaining or detailing to them its consequences?”

Mr Barnier subsequently tweeted a cover of his book, which has the sub-heading “Brexit Secret Diary”. Brexit meant the EU had to give the UK "punishment beatings" to prevent future bloc departures, an expert said. BarniertellsSelmayrabouthis concerns. “With his usual stamina, he tells me he has no time to take care of Brexit, that he has other things to do, including to save the trade agreement with the U.S. … and that he doesn’t speak to the British side … no one is fooled.” … and a divisive managerIt comes after reports that up to 80 percent of boats working out of the northern port of Boulogne-sur-mer have not been granted licences to fish in our waters. Boris Johnson meets Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in London last year. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters Of all the U.K. Brexit secretaries, Barnier has particular mistrust of Dominic Raab, now the foreign secretary. After Raab tells Barnier to accept his view on a special customs arrangement with the U.K. otherwise there will be no deal, “my heart skipped a beat,” Barner writes. He tells Raab that if that’s the case, then “negotiations can stop right away … And I will prepare myself in the next days to inform the European Parliament and member states. We will note that negotiations failed on Brexit itself.” Raab suddenly retracts after realizing “he went too far.” The transition year talks on a future trade deal were a rollercoaster, too, beginning with David Frost’s blunt announcement that London “did not feel bound by the political declaration it had just signed four months ago. That rather set the scene.”

Discover POLITICO Pro In-depth reporting, data and actionable intelligence for policy professionals – all in one place. Our work starts with France. What we French will not do for ourselves, no one will do for us. Michel Barnier European “Brexit fatigue” begins to sets in, Barnier writes, in the long months before Theresa May’s decision in May 2019 – following a series of humiliating defeats in the Commons and an inevitable extension to the talks – to step down, and Johnson’s triumphant arrival at No 10 two months later.

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Mr Barnier was effectively the face of the EU's dealings with Britain after the vote to quit the bloc in 2016. But after weeks of delays, the TCA has still not been formally ratified, with group leaders in the European Parliament refusing to set a date for a final vote. The second illusion is more internal, within the UK. According to Michel Barnier, the second illusion of the British people is to think that the withdrawal from the EU will automatically solve the domestic social anger and problems. In Michel Barnier's analysis, it is necessary to wait before being able to measure the effect of Brexit on social cohesion in the UK. First, the EU side was professional and properly prepared, whereas the UK was not. Barnier was across the detail at every stage, and even read Stanley Johnson’s 1987 novel The Commissioner to try to understand his son. He focused from the beginning on the landing zone for the negotiation and prepared a full legal text of the free trade agreement before the talks began. When negotiations opened, the media made much of a photo of Barnier sitting with a file full of papers on the table in front of him while David Davis had nothing at all. The reality was far worse. Barnier was astounded by Davis’s “nonchalant” approach: “As is always the case with him we rarely get into the substance of things,” he writes about one subsequent encounter.