David Davis: Hero or villain?

Brexit secretary says Juncker wants him fired but there’s no evidence to suggest that’s the case.

Could there be anything cooler in British politics these days than to be disliked in Brussels?

The U.K.’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Davis, has joined his boss, Prime Minister Theresa May, in declaring publicly that the EU is out to get him.

Davis was quick to claim his alleged disfavor in Brussels as a badge of honor. Pointing a finger at recent news accounts based on alleged leaks from European Commission officials, Davis told the Daily Telegraph: “All these stories are briefing against me, trying to get me sacked, which of course is a compliment by the way.” He added, “If they don’t want me across the table, there is a reason for that — it is in Britain’s interests, not theirs.”

Yet there’s absolutely no evidence to support Davis’ claim. And EU officials were quick to deny it.

“We have no comment on, and no interest in the composition of any government in our member states,” the Commission’s chief spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, said at a news conference Friday. “This is not our job. The only thing we would like to see is once the new government takes place, [there is] a good negotiator, as good as Michel Barnier, so we can start the job.”

When POLITICO pushed Schinas to go further, asking if he meant to say that Davis was not as good as Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, and therefore should be replaced, the spokesman rejected the assertion. “No, that’s what you are attempting to construe from what I said,” Schinas shot back. “But I think I was clear.”

Some news accounts of a dinner Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had with May in London reported that EU officials left the meal wondering aloud if Davis would still be chief negotiator (technically his title is Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union) when the U.K. forms a new government following elections on June 8.

That May still has to win and form a government before starting the formal Brexit talks was stating the obvious, and hardly suggested a push for Davis to be fired. And, indeed, as Davis himself suggested, to be a villain in Brussels is to be a hometown darling in London these days. Presumably nothing would make May more likely to keep Davis in his post than the EU wanting him out. Brussels knows this full well.

On top of that, there has been no indication at all in London that Davis has fallen out of favor with the prime minister. On the contrary, he appears to have her full confidence.

So what’s really going on? Some of this may be the typical trash-talking and psychological warfare that occurs before the start of any sporting event. Davis, in fact, may not be as talented a negotiator as Barnier, a veteran French diplomat who served two terms as a European commissioner and is a veteran of tough battles with the City of London over regulatory issues after the 2009 financial crisis. Maybe the EU wants to get in his head and create self-doubt.

But Schinas, at Friday’s news conference, said he had a simpler idea: “We know that there is a campaign in the United Kingdom.”

This insight is from POLITICO’s Brexit Files newsletter, a daily afternoon digest of the best coverage and analysis of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Read today’s edition or subscribe here.