Reversing Brexit would pose threat to Europe, warns Francois Hollande 

Francois Hollande, the former French President, warns Europe not to delay over Brexit in his new memoir
Francois Hollande, the former French President, warns Europe not to delay over Brexit in his new memoir Credit: AFP

Any attempt to reverse Brexit poses a threat to the future of Europe, the former French president Francois Hollande has warned, urging the European Union to push through a decision he says Britain will “live to regret”.

The 63-year-old former president who led France until last year told the Daily Telegraph that the door to Europe was now “closed” and that a prolonged Brexit divorce proceeding presented the bigger risk to the European Union.

“It’s shut. The vote has taken place and nobody can question it,” he said, dismissing attempts by the Remain camp to do so. “One cannot open a negotiation thinking that there is any way out other than leaving,” he said.

Mr Hollande’s hardline attitude echoes that of his successor Emmanuel Macron, who has taken an uncompromising stance over Britain’s efforts to “cherry pick” access to the EU single market.

Philippe Léglise Costa, France’s highly combative ambassador to the EU, was Mr Hollande’s former Europe adviser at the Elysée Palace and, according to diplomatic insiders, echoes his former boss’s approach in the current negotiations.

While denying any “spirit of revenge”, Mr Hollande said that “the worst thing would be for overly long discussions (on Britain leaving) to prevent the EU from moving forward and for doubt to set in about the irrevocable nature of Brexit.”

The hands of Former French President Francois Hollande are pictured as he attends a book signing for his book "The Lessons of Power" (Les lecons du pouvoir)
The hands of Former French President Francois Hollande are pictured as he attends a book signing for his book "The Lessons of Power" (Les lecons du pouvoir) Credit: AFP

Mr Hollande was speaking ahead of the launch of a presidential memoir which is mainly dedicated to putting a positive spin on his five-year mandate, which ended with him being the least popular president in French history and choosing not to run for re-election. He insists France is now reaping the benefits.

On Brexit, Mr Hollande said Europe had been generous enough in its handling of David Cameron’s demand for a renegotiation of the terms of Britain’s EU membership, but that this mistake had been to call a vote at all.

“We all made efforts to give Prime Minister David Cameron the conditions to enable him to go the British people and convince them (to stay),” he insisted.

“If I have one lesson to take away, it is that referendums are boomerangs,” he said, adding that history had shown that “there is always a good reason to say ‘no’”.

As for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, he asked: “Will Britain remain in the common market? In that case, it must respect free movement, a principle a majority of British have refused. Or will there be a [free] trade deal? But there will be nothing in between.”

Regarding his mandate, Mr Hollande said he had no regrets on slapping a 75 per cent tax on millionaires, which Mr Macron warned turned France into “Cuba without the sun”. It was a symbol of “solidarity” that had not stopped foreign investment in France, he insisted.

“I remember a phrase from David Cameron saying it that it was red carpet for capital flows to Britain. Well, I wouldn’t be so cruel as to make comparisons today,” he said, referring to the 4,000-odd London-based banking staff Paris says are moving its way in the wake of Brexit.

Much-maligned for touting himself as a “normal president” when the French expect their presidents to be strong leaders, Mr Hollande said it had been a difficult balance to strike. “In France, public opinion wants a king but seems to have forgotten that they cut his head off,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron escorts former President Francois Hollande who leaves after the handover ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron escorts former President Francois Hollande who leaves after the handover ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris Credit: Reuters

In his book, Mr Hollande pulls no punches regarding Mr Macron, saying that while his Socialist government reduced inequalities in France, his successor “is increasing them” - a well-aimed blow amid criticisms Mr Macron is “the president of the rich”.

Twisting the knife, he said Mr Macron’s decision to “grant tax breaks” to the well-off by “taxing pensioners and the poorest creates far more incomprehension (than his 75 per cent tax) for insignificant economic gain”.

He implied that last year’s surprise winner of France’s presidential elections owed him his victory because “if I had run (for re-election), Emmanuel Macron wouldn’t be president today. It would have been (conservative) François Fillon or (far-Right) Marine Le Pen.”

Mr Hollande criticised press revelations about his affair with actress Julie Gayet when his girlfriend and First Lady Valérie Trierweiler was living at the Elysée as a “disruption” with the French tradition of ignoring politicians’ private lives.

“When you can attack the president’s private life, you can attack everyone’s. It’s not that different to Facebook not protecting data. Tomorrow, what will be the next step?,” he asked.

Was the press the problem or his decision not to make public his relationship? “There was also a life choice on my part that is open to judgment,” he responded.

On foreign leaders, he described Vladimir Putin as “mixing seduction with a form of brutality” and “‘nostalgic for the Russian empire”. Mr Putin views the West and Europe in particular as a “weak body, morally impaired, without cohesion, in short in decline,” he said.

He said he regretted that France, Britain and America did not launch airstrikes in Syria in 2013 when chemical weapons were first detected, saying that this could have “changed the game” and led to Bashar al-Assad’s departure.

While he respected David Cameron’s decision to take the issue to parliament “for political reasons”, he noted that Theresa May did not do so before giving her green light to strikes in recent days.

“If the British parliament had authorised strikes [in August 2013], Obama wouldn’t have had to go via Congress for authorisation for military action,” he said.

The fact that the French president, who is head of the armed forces, need not do so was “not contrary to democracy”, he added.

“To defend themselves, democracies must give heads of state and government this possibility to act very fast. Afterwards, it is legitimate for parliament to be consulted, but if we reverse the chain, we allow our enemies to master time”.

Asked whether he was pessimistic about the Left’s future in Europe, he said: “I’m lucid. Only four countries - five including Greece - are run by social democrats”.

The Left was its worst enemy, he said. “It must assert itself faced with the far-Left as who is preventing social democrats from winning elections. Division and brinkmanship. It’s the culture of protest. Is there a possible future in regret, despair and rejection?”

Ends

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