EditMichel Barnier decries ‘centralised overreach’ in Brussels under Ursula von der Leyen
“The Commission has shifted toward a model where decisions are concentrated in too few hands”
Michel Barnier, the European Union’s former chief Brexit negotiator, has accused European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of steering Brussels toward a “centralised overreach” during her tenure, according to French political observers and his newly published memoir.
In his book, Ce que vous m’avez appris (What I Have Learnt from You), released Wednesday, the 74-year-old former French prime minister critiques what he describes as an increasingly top-down approach under von der Leyen’s leadership.
“Over the past six years, the Commission has shifted toward a model where decisions are concentrated in too few hands,” Barnier writes, a sentiment echoed by French MEP François-Xavier Bellamy in an interview with Le Figaro.
Speaking to POLITICO ahead of the book’s launch, Barnier lamented that von der Leyen’s Commission has sidelined political dialogue in favour of technocratic dominance. “There is a lack of genuine engagement with citizens’ concerns,” he said, adding that commissioners now act more like “remote administrators” than elected representatives. French political analyst Chloé Ridel, writing in Marianne, noted that Barnier’s critique resonates with growing French unease over Brussels’ regulatory zeal.
Von der Leyen’s leadership has faced accusations in Paris of prioritizing loyalists and governing through a tight-knit circle of aides, a strategy French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot recently hinted at during a France 24 interview, calling for “more inclusive EU governance.” Her tenure, marked by crises like the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has drawn mixed reviews in France. Barnier acknowledges her crisis management but faults her for sluggish progress on EU capital market integration and an overreliance on regulation, views shared by French Finance Minister Antoine Armand, who has pushed for financial market reforms.
Despite both belonging to the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), Barnier and von der Leyen’s rift deepened during the Brexit negotiations’ endgame in 2020. Barnier claims von der Leyen excluded him from critical talks with then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “After years leading the negotiations, I expected to stand alongside her in the final moments, but I was sidelined,” he told Le Monde, a grievance that French Senate Foreign Affairs Committee chair Christian Cambon described as “a breach of protocol” in a recent RFI interview.
Fishing feud and French priorities
Barnier’s memoir, which traces his decades-long career in Paris and Brussels, also reflects on his brief three-month stint as France’s prime minister in 2024, the shortest in modern French history. French media outlets like L’Express have speculated that the book’s release positions Barnier as a potential, if unlikely, candidate for the 2027 French presidential election.
In Brussels, Barnier remains synonymous with his Brexit mantra, “The clock is ticking.” His book recounts how von der Leyen appeared willing to compromise on European fishing rights to secure a UK trade deal in 2020, a move that alarmed French coastal communities. “Fishing was relegated to a minor issue in her calculations,” Barnier writes, a claim corroborated by French Fisheries Minister Sophie Primas, who told France Info that Paris had to intervene to protect its fleet.
Barnier reveals that French President Emmanuel Macron’s threat to veto the Brexit deal forced von der Leyen to prioritize fishing access, ensuring a balanced agreement for EU trawlers. “Without France’s firm stance, our fishermen would have been sacrificed,” he told POLITICO, echoing sentiments in Ouest-France editorials praising Barnier’s defence of national interests.
Barnier also notes von der Leyen’s failure to acknowledge his 2021 departure from the Commission. “We clearly differ on what leadership and collaboration mean,” he writes, a jab that French EPP MEP Agnès Evren called “telling” in a France Culture discussion.
Despite past tensions, Barnier welcomed the EU-UK reset agreement signed in May 2025, which facilitates British food imports and extends fishing rights. “It’s a pragmatic step, balanced on fishing and in our mutual interest,” he said, aligning with French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard’s cautiously optimistic remarks in La Tribune.
Caption: European Commission’s Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom Michel Barnier, right, speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after addressing a media conference on Brexit negotiations at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 24 December 2020. [EPA-EFE/FRANCISCO SECO / POOL]
Updated: June 4, 2025 - 07:26
