Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done [Hardcover]

As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck had a front row seat in the Brexit negotiations. In this frank and uncompromising account, De Rynck tells the EUs side of the story and seeks to dispel some of the myths and spin that have become indelibly linked to the Brexit process. From the mood in the room to the technical discussions, he gives an unvarnished account of the deliberations and obstacles that shaped the final deal.


De Rynck demonstrates how the EU-27s unity held firm throughout, while the UK vacillated, changed negotiators, changed prime ministers and changed their aims and tactics. Attempts by the UK to run down the clock and issue ultimatums to force the EU to acquiesce are shown to have had no effect on the course of events. Instead Barniers team was successful in protecting EU interests, in fulfilling the mandate defined by 27 national governments while still agreeing different forms of Brexit with two UK prime ministers.


For the EU, Brexit was not, as some UK commentators and politicians liked to portray it, a fight with the UK. It was a fight to get a deal that worked for the EU.USThis frank and uncompromising account gives the inside view from the EU side of what it was really like to negotiate the Brexit agreement with the UK.

An insider account of how the EU dealt with Brexit by one of the close aides of Michel Barnier, the EUs former chief negotiator. Without descending into triumphalism, the book shows how the EU achieved all its main strategic objectives  while the British side played a weak hand badly.

This EU insiders account reveals how British politicians were outclassed& many reporters came to know De Rynck as a straight-talking, trusted source who could explain the technical issues at the heart of the negotiations. There is plenty of fascinating detail here for students of Brussels statecraft.

The Brexit youll never hear about from a British negotiator. An important book.

De Rynckl†