EU BTFO. Germany BTFO. Remainers BTFO.
>EU negotiator wants 'special' deal over access to City post-Brexit
>Exclusive: minutes of Michel Barnier’s meeting with senior MEPs reveal he wants 27 member states to have easy access to London’s financial institutions
>The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has shown the first signs of backing away from his hardline, no compromise approach after admitting he wants a deal with Britain that will guarantee the other 27 member states will continue to have easy access to the City.
>Michel Barnier wants a “special” relationship with the City of London after Britain has left the bloc, according to unpublished minutes seen by the Guardian that hint at unease about the costs of Brexit on continental Europe.
>Barnier told a private meeting of MEPs this week that special work was needed to avoid financial instability, according to a European parliament summary of the session.
>“Some very specific work has to be done in this area,” Barnier said, according to the minutes. “There will be a special/specific relationship. There will need to be work outside of the negotiation box … in order to avoid financial instability.”
>The remarks hint at concern among senior Brussels policymakers about the damaging consequences of Brexit for the continent if Europe’s biggest financial centre is cut adrift.
>A spokesman for the European commission insisted the minutes, which were drawn up by European parliament officials, did not “correctly reflect what Mr Barnier said”.
>But the minutes do mirror the view of the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney. He told MPs on Tuesday “there are greater financial stability risks on the continent in the short term, for the transition, than there are for the UK”.
tfw this is the kind of shit that's getting you excited on a Friday night