German trade expert and ex-Cambridge student appointed to EU’s Brexit taskforce
A SENIOR German trade negotiator has been named as the latest weapon appointed by the EU to lead Brexit talks.
Sabine Weyand joins Guy Verhofstadt arch-federalist Michel Barnier
The European Commission announced Sabine Weyand will join the negotiating team.
Mrs Weyand is the latest official added to Brussels' Brexit arsenal which already includes veteran MEP Guy Verhofstadt and arch-federalist Michel Barnier.
The appointment puts Paris and Berlin, the two most powerful remaining EU governments, at the heart of talks likely to hinge on trade and the future of the City of London, although the officials are expected to act independently of their capitals and for the broader European interest.
The group will coordinate the Commission's work on all strategic, operational, legal and financial issues related to these negotiations
Mrs Weyand, the deputy director in the European Commission’s trade department, will take up the post on October 1.
The EU’s taskforce "will coordinate the Commission's work on all strategic, operational, legal and financial issues related to these negotiations," it said in a statement.
‘We want to construct, we want a better Europe’ says embattled Juncker
The European Commission announced Sabine Weyand will join the negotiating team
The Franco-German duo underscores how Paris and Berlin are eager to shape Britain's exit from the crumbling bloc once Theresa May triggers Article 50 and the beginning of the withdrawal process.
Commission chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker warned today that London could not access the single market if it barred some EU citizens from working in Britain, while European Parliament Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said the talks offered an occasion for progress rather than revenge.
Michel Barnier will coordinate the Commission's work on Brexit talks
The Prime Minister is set for a showdown with Mr Verhofstadt this week
He has brushed aside concerns about the tense relationship he had with London over tougher rules sensitive to the City during his tenure as the Commission's financial regulation chief from 2010 to 2014.
The EU's team will go head-to-head with David Davis' new department
Mrs Weyand, who served in the cabinet of French former EU trade chief Pascal Lamy from 1999 to 2004, has dealt with trade issues linked to Britain's interests, including trade deal talks with the United States. She also studied at Cambridge University in the 1980s.
Brussel’s believes its negotiators will cause problems for Mrs May’s Brexit team during the protracted divorce proceedings.
The Prime Minister is set for a showdown with Mr Verhofstadt when he visited London later this week with European Parliament president Martin Schulz.