Francois Hollande demands Britain pays a heavy economic price for Brexit
But Brexiteers say there is no reason EU leaders could not strike a free trade deal with UK
FRENCH President Francois Hollande yesterday demanded Britain pays a heavy economic “price” for leaving the EU.
It came as European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker weighed in insisting the EU must be “unyielding” over divorce terms.
But their comments were seized on by senior Brexiteers who said there was no reason EU leaders could not strike a free trade deal with Britain.
A grandstanding Mr Hollande declared: “There must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price” during Brexit negotiations.
He said: “We need to remain strong. If not, we will threaten the very principles of the European Union.
“That could lead to other countries or regions wanting to leave the EU to gain so-called benefits but without any inconvenience or rules.”
But leading Brexit campaigner and Tory MP Bernard Jenkin insisted Britain could make a “clean break” from the EU as well as agreeing an equally beneficial free trade deal.
He said: “What we can offer is tariff free access for the EU to UK markets and a completely open UK services market for the EU if they will offer the same – a free trade deal.
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“It will be perverse if they are going to finish up insisting the UK accepts worse terms than say North Korea or Canada who have both agreed a free trade deal without free movement of people.”
It follows Angela Merkel’s pledge to German business leaders not to allow special concessions for Britain.
But one of her senior ministers said Germans should do “everything to keep the Britons as close as possible to Europe...to have the chance that they return some day.”
And the deputy speaker of the lower house of the Italian parliament, Luigi Di Maio, said Italians should “not use negotiations between the UK and the EU to punish the UK because it dared to vote for Brexit.”