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First, I think Juncker - who is not exactly the world's greatest diplomat - is reacting to the appointment of Johnson as the British negotiator. In that sense, it is not Juncker but May who played hardball.

Second, I expect the member-states and in particular Germany as well as the European parliament will be unhappy with Barnier. There is a feeling that the UK will be punished financially and economically hard enough already to discourage others. Though they are unlikely to stop his nomination (the negotiations with the UK are within the competence of the European Commission and they have the most knowledge of EU law), the member-states will undermine his power, possibly by a second-in-command who is beholden to the Council or the EU parliament.

What remains is that Johnson and Barnier are steps on the road to an unnecessary minimal agreement between the UK and the EU.

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