French minister says Theresa May’s Brexit plan is 'not possible' and she is 'surprised' at reports Macron has softened stance

Nathalie Loiseau dismisses suggestion EU has adopted more favourable position towards UK as talks reach crunch point

Theresa May's Brexit plan is "not possible", France's Europe minister has said, dismissing suggestions that the EU's negotiating position has shifted.

Nathalie Loiseau said she was "surprised" to read reports in the British media saying French president Emmanuel Macron was preparing to soften his stance and urge European leaders to agree a Brexit deal.

Ms Loiseau said the UK's Chequers plan had failed to strike a "balance between rights and obligations" to the EU.

Her comments follow suggestions that the EU is increasingly willing to compromise in order to strike a deal.

In addition to Mr Macron's reported intervention, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, earlier this week promised to offer the UK a trade deal "such as there never has been with any other third country".

Mr Barnier held six hours of talks with Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, in Brussels on Friday. British ministers are attempting to convince European leaders to agree to the Chequers proposals, which would see the UK agree a "common rule book" with the EU for goods and collect tariffs on behalf of the bloc.

However, Ms Loiseau said the plan was "not possible" because it would give the UK the benefits of a Norway-style model of access to Europe while only committing it to responsibilities akin to those resulting from Canada's trade deal with the EU.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Until now, what the United Kingdom has proposed was involving something between Norway and Canada. The problem with the current proposal made by the British government is that it would join the benefits of Norway with the obligations of Canada, and this is not possible.

"There has to be a balance between rights and obligations in the relationship with the European Union."

Mr Barnier's comments about an unprecedented deal were "nothing new", she added.

Hopes of a deal have grown stronger in recent days after Mr Barnier's comments and reports that Mr Macron was preparing to propose a model of the EU as a series of concentric rings, with Britain closely linked to the inner core of the other 27 member states.

Asked about suggestions that France had softened its stance towards the UK over Brexit, Ms Loiseau said: "I was surprised to read in the British press this sort of idea."

She added: "First and foremost, the unity of the 27 and support towards Michel Barnier is extremely strong.

"And second, what the president mentioned in the conference of ambassadors earlier this week was something he already mentioned last year. That is to say that in the future, there is going to be a European Union that needs to be reformed, and there is going to be strong relations with countries outside the EU, especially the UK, but he also mentioned Russia and Turkey as strong neighbours and partners of the European Union.

"This is what he said last September, this is what he repeated last week. This is our position, but [there is] no real news around it."

However, she insisted she was still optimistic that a Brexit deal would be reached.

She said: "We are in a positive mood. We indeed want a fruitful partnership with the UK after Brexit but, as you know, negotiations have been underway for quite a while and, first things first, we need to fully agreed on the withdrawal agreement."