EU’s ‘Monsieur Brexit’ starts tough job

BRUSSELS: Frenchman Michel Barnier officially starts work as the European Commission’s Brexit negotiator on Saturday in an appointment that British media called a “declaration of war”.

Loathed in parts of London for taking on the banking sector when he was a commissioner, Barnier insisted after his appointment by Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in July that he will be fair to all sides in what promise to be difficult talks.