Emmanuel Macron in favor of a return of the United Kingdom to the European Union

“Welcome back!” Emmanuel Macron welcomed on Wednesday in English the debate reopened by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on a hypothetical return of the United Kingdom to the European Union.

“If the British want to come back and if the Prime Minister goes in this direction, I think it is very good news both for his country and for the Europeans,” continued the French president during a press conference in Madrid. “Come back,” he insisted.

During a speech on Tuesday, the head of the Labor government, who succeeded Keir Starmer this summer, said he wanted to present “different options” for long-term relations with the EU at a summit planned for the end of the year. He clarified on Wednesday that a return to the EU was one of these options to consider. According to Emmanuel Macron, “the British have always been useful in helping us simplify things, demanding partners.” Andy Burnham “is right to have this audacity,” he said.

“Brexit was a huge loss”

Emmanuel Macron spoke of the “limits” for the United Kingdom to move closer to the EU while remaining “outside”, ten years after the vote in favor of Brexit. “We cannot choose between the freedoms of the Union and we cannot decide to take what suits us and not the rest,” he stressed.