The Telegraph
Britain will be ‘big loser’ of Brexit while France will barely feel a scratch, claims finance minister
Britain would be the “massive losers” from Brexit and its departure from the EU will solely price the French financial system 0.1 per cent of GDP subsequent yr, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire claimed on Monday. “The British would be the massive losers from Brexit,” he instructed France Data radio. “The nation that may come out weaker from Brexit is Nice Britain.” “Brexit, to make use of an expression of the late John Le Carre is a political, financial and historic folly,” he went on. “I remorse that our British pals are paying the worth of populism, lies and approximations of the (Go away) marketing campaign,” he mentioned in an oft-repeated French chorus. “They led the British to consider they might depart the EU however proceed to have entry to European Single Market, which is among the richest on the planet. Effectively no.” He added: “We’ve got defined to them – and the president (Emmanuel Macron) is true to be agency as is the president of the European Fee, Ursula von der Leyen – that you just can’t have your cake and eat it.” “You possibly can’t say, ‘I’m leaving, I’m unbiased however on the similar time, I’m going to retain entry to one of many richest markets on the planet with out respecting the environmental and social guidelines of this market’,” he mentioned. Mr Le Maire’s broadside got here hours after the EU deserted Sunday’s negotiating deadline, amid rising expectations {that a} deal might now be performed and that Brexit commerce talks might proceed till the top of the yr. Michel Barnier, the EU Brexit negotiator, has instructed EU ambassadors a Brexit deal might be reached this week if the 2 sides discover a compromise on fisheries. The UK, he mentioned, had moved on the extent taking part in subject negotiations and that now the “structure” of the system needed to be agreed, together with a doable “rebalancing mechanism”, which might redress unfair competitors if the UK diverges too removed from EU requirements. However British negotiators had dug their heels in on fish and there had been no substantial motion there, he added.
