European Commission appoints chief Brexit negotiator but says he won't speak to UK until Article 50 triggered

The European Commission has appointed a chief Brexit negotiator but has made clear he will not engage with Britain until Article 50 is formally triggered - nor start work until 1 October.

Michel Barnier, a former French government minister and ex-European Commission vice-president, will start work after the holiday season and then spend the next few months preparing the ground in Brussels for the negotiations. His appointment was announced by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who said he wanted "an experienced politician for this difficult job".

Describing Mr Barnier as "a skilled negotiator with rich experience in major policy areas relevant to the negotiations", Mr Juncker said: "I am very glad that my friend Michel Barnier accepted this important and challenging task. I wanted an experienced politician for this difficult job.

"He has an extensive network of contacts in the capitals of all EU member states and in the European Parliament, which I consider a valuable asset for this function.

"Michel will have access to all Commission resources necessary to perform his tasks. He will report directly to me, and I will invite him to brief regularly the College [of commissioners] to keep my team abreast of the negotiations. I am sure that he will live up to this new challenge and help us to develop a new partnership with the United Kingdom after it will have left the European Union."

Mr Barnier, who is known as a tough negotiator, said in a Tweet he was "honoured" by the appointment.

He is known to be a purist on the principles of the single market as a fundamental tenet of the EU.

When he was European commissioner for internal markets in 2013, Mr Barnier attacked UK eurosceptics for attempting to negotiate a “pick and mix” approach to EU financial services regulation while remaining in the EU.

He told a group of MPs in London at the time: "The single market cannot be pick and mix. I have heard some people say financial services should be repatriated. It is clearly the wrong cause to fight for because financial services are an integral part of the single market and the single market is the heart of Europe.

"By definition there cannot be two single markets; one for financial services and one for other sectors; one for the City and one for the rest of the EU. This is out of question.

“Repatriating powers of financial services would mean leaving the single market and de facto the EU. I believe the UK would lose out on many of its own interests.”

Mr Juncker acknowledged earlier this week that the UK Government may need several months to prepare its position before negotiations start. In a French TV interview on Monday, he said he had no "deadline" for the talks to begin, adding: "The British Government needs several months to fine tune its position. Our British friends know that there will be no negotiation before notification of their farewell letter."

However he reiterated that Britain will have to accept four EU freedoms - including the free movement of people - "without exception or nuance" if it wants to keep full access to the single market after Brexit.

It comes as Ms May continues her diplomacy tour of Europe with a visit to Italy on Wednesday to meet Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome. This will be followed by a trip to Slovakia and Poland on Thursday where she is expected to engage with the European leaders on Brexit. A Number 10 spokesman said Mrs May wanted an early visit to Italy after becoming PM earlier this month, because of the close relations it has with the UK.