Europe must not punish Britain over Brexit says France's new conservative leader as he calls for 'tailor-made' deal

  • Warning made by right-winger Laurent Wauquiez, head of The Republicans
  • 'Brexit must lead us to a rethink on how the EU works,' said opposition leader
  • Wauquiez, 42, is a relentless critic of France's president Emmanuel Macron

By Nick Enoch for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

The leader of France's main opposition party, Laurent Wauquiez, has warned that Europe must not punish Britain over Brexit. The newly elected head of The Republicans, said he wanted a 'tailor-made regime' for the UK

The leader of France's main opposition party, Laurent Wauquiez, has warned that Europe must not punish Britain over Brexit. The newly elected head of The Republicans, said he wanted a 'tailor-made regime' for the UK

The leader of France's main opposition party has warned that Europe must not punish Britain over Brexit.

Controversial right-winger Laurent Wauquiez, the newly elected head of The Republicans, said he wanted a 'tailor-made regime' for the UK.

The 42-year-old, a former minister in Nicolas Sarkozy's administration, made clear his views on Europe - in stark contrast to those of President Emmanuel Macron. 

'We must be able to create a tailor-made regime for the UK. Brexit must lead us to a rethink on how the EU works,' Mr Wauquiez told The Daily Telegraph.

'We must invent a model linking [the UK] to the common market, a partnership model that cannot be the same type as the one we have with countries outside the EU,' he added.

'I don't like the way some speak of the UK today, where one gets the impression that the evil British people should be punished for daring to vote against the European Union,' he said at his headquarters in western Paris. 

There are few policy parallels between Mr Macron and Mr Wauquiez, who is a relentless critic of the 39-year-old president - whom he slated in the Telegraph interview for his 'headlong rush into federalism'.

He has previously dismissed Mr Macron as being out of touch with rural France, weak on security and too much in favour of closer European integration.

And in his recent campaign to lead the party, Mr Wauquiez charted a rightward path to attack Mr Macron's social and economic reforms. 

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'I don't like the way some speak of the UK today, where one gets the impression that the evil British people should be punished for daring to vote against the European Union,' said controversial right-winger Mr Wauquiez

'I don't like the way some speak of the UK today, where one gets the impression that the evil British people should be punished for daring to vote against the European Union,' said controversial right-winger Mr Wauquiez

Meanwhile, the European Commission said today that it wants a post-Brexit transition period, during which Britain must continue to obey EU rules, to finish at the end of 2020.

Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that 'all EU policies will still apply' during the transition to a new relationship between London and Brussels after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who headed off a new parliamentary rebellion over Brexit as Barnier spoke, faces a fresh row over the proposed EU timeline as she has called for a transition period that is three months longer.

The development comes after EU leaders signed off last week on the first stage of Brexit negotiations, ending more than a year of stalemate over Britain's bill for leaving the bloc, as well as the fate of the Irish border and EU expatriates.

There are few policy parallels between France's president, Emmanuel Macron (above), and Mr Wauquiez, who is a relentless critic of the 39-year-old

There are few policy parallels between France's president, Emmanuel Macron (above), and Mr Wauquiez, who is a relentless critic of the 39-year-old

'From our point of view, the logical end should be December 31, 2020,' Barnier said at a press conference in Brussels as he presented the new Brexit negotiating guidelines produced by the commission, the EU's executive arm.

This would coincide with the end of the EU's seven-year budget for 2014 to 2020, he said, avoiding potentially thorny negotiations on how much Britain should pay for the extra few months in 2021 that would be necessary under May's proposal. 

Talks on the post-Brexit transition period are to start in January, while negotiations on the future relationship between Britain and the EU, including steps towards an eventual trade deal, are due to begin in March.

The EU has said it wants to have a free trade deal with Britain ready to go at the start of 2021, as soon as the transition ends.

'The transition period is useful and will enable Britain to get prepared for the kind of challenges that they will have to face, and to prepare also for the complications of the new relationship,' Barnier said.

But the veteran French politician warned that Britain would have to stick to EU laws throughout the transition period, even new ones passed after it had left the bloc, and obey rules on free movement.

'This cannot be an a la carte transition period - all EU policies will still apply,' Barnier said. 'The UK will keep all of the benefits, but also all of the obligations and duties of the single market, the customs union and our common policies.'

Eurosceptic hardliners in May's Conservative party have insisted that Britain should take back control of its borders and no longer be subject to the European Court of Justice from March 2019 onwards.

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