Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done

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 EU’s 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-27’s 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 Barnier’s 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.

Stefaan De Rynck was a senior advisor to Michel Barnier, the Brexit Negotiator for the European Union. He has worked as an EU civil servant on financial regulation, the single market, transport policy, sustainable urban development and on EU Treaty changes. He has a PhD in political and social sciences from the European University Institute in Florence and teaches at the Public Governance Institute of the University of Leuven in Belgium.