Guy Verhofstadt

If this had been a League match, and this question had gone to me, I'd probably have answered "Michel Barnier".

Someone would then have pointed out that Michel Barnier is not a former Prime Minister of Belgium; and if I'd thought a bit more about it, I'd have realised that myself.

Michel Barnier is (of course) French, and he's a European Commissioner. Commissioners not MEPs; they're proposed by the Council of the European Union, on the basis of suggestions made by the national governments, and appointed by the European Council after the approval of the European Parliament. (In other words, as I'm sure some people would be quick to point out, they are not elected.)

On Wikipedia's Brexit negotiations page, Michel Barnier heads a list of five people under the heading EU27 negotiation (as opposed to UK negotiation). Guy Verhofstadt is second on that list, described as "representative of the European Parliament in the negotiations". The other three are the respective Presidents of the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission: Donald Tusk, Antonio Tajani and Jean-Claude Juncker.

Guy Verhofstadt was Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008, and has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. But why is he the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, and not Antonio Tajani? This doesn't seem to be an official title, although it does seem to be how Verhofstadt is invariably described in the media. (For several examples, check out these Bing search results.)

In the game I took part in, this question went to the other side, who didn't know the answer. But certain members of my team (not me, obviously) were able to answer it without any problem or fuss. I've consulted one of those team members (you probably know who I mean), who pointed out that Verhofstadt is the MEP that was given special responsibility for Brexit (rather than being on the negotiating team simply because he's the President.)

The key to this question however, as I've suggested in my second paragraph, is that we're looking for a former Prime Minister of Belgium. So I'm not suggesting that there's anything really wrong with the question; just that it's an easy one to get wrong. Bordering on a trick question, you might say ...