The European Parliament has named Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and arch-foe of eurosceptics across the continent, to represent it in forthcoming Brexit negotiations with London.
Verhofstadt, 63, leads the liberal bloc in the legislature, where he has railed against nationalists like Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party, who described the Belgian on Thursday as a "fanatical" federalist who "hates everything we stand for".
Parliament, which announced Verhofstadt's appointment by a caucus of fellow party leaders, will have a limited role in the detailed negotiations with British Prime Minister Theresa May, once she formally launches the process triggered by the June 23 referendum vote to leave the bloc.
But Members of European Parliaments will have to pass legislation to enact a divorce and possibly other agreements.
Verhofstadt was one of a trio of parliamentarians involved in negotiating this year's pact with May's predecessor, David Cameron, which offered Britain concessions on EU migration and other rules in a vain bid to persuade its voters to stay.
Verhofstadt has long taken a tough line with the British, but he spoke out after the vote to back Scotland's pro-independence leader Nicola Sturgeon in her quest for Scots not to be forced out of the EU.
There is little love lost between the Belgian and the Conservatives. When Boris Johnson dropped a bid to lead the party in July, Verhofstadt said he and other "Brexiteers" were "rats fleeing a sinking ship." Johnson is now foreign minister.
The EU parliament is dominated by strongly pro-EU members, who fear that a deal too generous to Britain will reinforce centrifugal forces elsewhere.
They will be keen to prevent Brussels and other states allowing Britain to retain full access to EU markets while keeping out European immigrants.
Detailed negotiations will be handled by the EU executive, the European Commission. Its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has appointed Michel Barnier, a French conservative former minister, MEP and EU commissioner, to lead the talks.
The other 27 member states must also agree any deals.
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