The EU negotiator said he feared Brexit supporters “maybe don’t want to an agreement” with the EU on future relations between the bloc and the UK.
Speaking to CNBC, he also took the time to hail the Labour party after it revealed it would stay in the single market and customs union in an extended post-Brexit transition period.
He said: “While there is a fear in Europe and especially here naturally in the Commission, in the Parliament, in the European Council, there is a fear that some hardliners in Britain don’t want really to negotiate with the European Union and are still on the track, on the course of a hard Brexit.
“While I think that you’ve seen the public opinion in Britain shift also more and more, people are understanding that Brexit can have negative consequences, certainly negative economic consequences.
“And there’s a reason, for example, a party like Labour is now saying ‘let’s go for a long transition period, let’s go for single market, let’s continue with the customs union’ to not have this enormous economic damage.
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“And I think that some hardliners in Britain are feeling that and could maybe don’t want to an agreement with the European Union – that’s my fear.”
The comments came in the lead up to a heated press conference on Thursday between the EU’s chief negotiator and Brexit Secretary David Davis.
Mr Barnier revealed that Britain and the EU have made virtually no progress in the Brexit talks so far.
During an angry press conference briefing, the Frenchman accused the British of rejecting his proposals for a Brexit bill and trying to undermine his negotiating mandate.
After days of round-table talks, the Frenchman said: “The single market and the EU capacity to regulate, supervise and enforce our laws must not be and will not be undermined by Brexit.”