Europe will not be held hostage by Brexit – Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the European Union would not be "taken hostage" by the Brexit crisis and said that a lengthy extension of the time limit for Britain to leave the bloc no longer exists. Was "not a certainty".

During a visit to Paris by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, the French leader said: "Our priority must be the proper functioning of the European Union and the single market.

"The EU can not be held hostage in the long run by the resolution of a political crisis in the UK," he said.

France "open" to discussions

He added that France was "open" to a long extension of the Brexit deadline under certain conditions, but that it was "neither a certainty nor an automatic one, I repeat it here very loudly".

The comments highlight the growing frustration in Paris over the Brexit process, which has diverted the attention of Macron's pro-European plans to strengthen the block.

After the rejection of the agreement proposed by British Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit three times, and the inconclusive votes on alternative ideas in the House of Commons, Mr. Macron said the country was on point out of the EU.

"If the United Kingdom is unable, three years after the referendum, to propose a solution that commands a majority, it will have chosen de facto to leave on its own without an agreement and we can not prevent this failure," he said. -he declares.

Echoing what was said by European leaders at a meeting in Brussels on 22 March, Mr Macron said "it is incumbent on the UK to come up with a credible alternative plan backed by a majority vote. , from here on April 10 ".

Divisions "not agree"

The meeting between Macron and Varadkar was presented as an opportunity to exchange views on Brexit. The French leader said: "We will never give up Ireland and the Irish, whatever happens, because this solidarity is the very meaning of the European project."

But discrepancies arise between the two sides as the possibility of a "no agreement" Brexit looms, which would lead to the creation of a border between the British territory of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. # 39; Ireland.

"We have to talk about what we will do in case of" no agreement ", which will be particularly difficult for Ireland," admitted Varadkar.

In the event of a Brexit "without agreement", the Irish border would become the only land border between Britain not belonging to the EU and the rest of the bloc and would therefore theoretically need customs controls.

But Ireland is firmly refusing to reintroduce a physical border, which was removed as part of a 1998 peace agreement to end decades of conflict on the island.

Rejecting border controls could, however, lead to controls between Irish exports and the rest of the European Union, experts and officials warned.

A spokesman for the French government said Monday that France wanted to avoid "Brexit, which would result in the detachment of Ireland from the European Union".

The EU negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, said Tuesday that the EU was working with Ireland "on a unilateral basis in case of no agreement, to find out where we could carry out these checks ", but refused to give details.

"We are working very closely with the Irish authorities to try to carry out controls away from the border, as far as possible," said an EU official, who did not want to be named, "he said. last week.