Sabine Weyand, the EU’s New Trade Czar

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- It’s hard to find any winners in the Brexit saga, but Weyand might be the closest there is: Her priority was to keep the European Union united in its negotiations with the U.K., and it’s a task she stuck to without wavering. When the British Parliament decided the 584-page Brexit deal was skewed in the EU’s favor and rejected it three times, she showed a politician’s flair for the public put-down, dismissing some of the U.K.’s Brexit policies as “Groundhog Day.”

Although the deal has yet to get final U.K. approval, Weyand’s successful negotiations earned her a promotion: heading up EU trade policy at a time when the bloc’s relations with the U.S. have never been so tense. With President Trump determined to take action against the $109 billion U.S. trade deficit with the EU, Weyand will have to avoid punitive measures on car exports, an almost catastrophic prospect for the European economy.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Begun at bbegun@bloomberg.net, Max Chafkin

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