Brexit: France accuses UK of 'improvising' on EU exit

'We're in a situation of improvisation. All of this shows how helpless the British government is in the face of a situation that some of them didn't want,' says French finance minister

The French Government has accused Theresa May of 'improvising' on her handling of Brexit, describing the British Government as 'helpless' in the face of its departure from the EU ( Stephane de Sakutin)

France has accused the UK of “improvising” its handling of Brexit, after Theresa May gave a landmark speech outlining her plans for leaving the EU.

France’s finance minister, Michael Sapin, described the British Government as “helpless” in the face of its departure from the EU, saying it was clear clear from Britain’s fluctuating position that “some of them don’t want” to leave the union.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mr Sapin said: “It has been a few months since the referendum took place. You might have thought that certain people had prepared for this.

“No-one was prepared. You can see very well that they are improvising, with flip-flopping between accommodating positions... and harder positions, even a 'hard' Brexit.

”All of this shows how helpless the British government is in the face of a situation that some of them didn't want, and that it has created debates within the government which are clearly very difficult."

The comments came as Ms May said in her speech that Britain will pull out of the single market when it leaves the EU, because not doing so would “mean not leaving the EU at all”.

On the customs union, the Prime Minister suggested the UK could negotiate some sort of “associate member” access while retaining the right to carry out its own deals with non-EU nations — in other words, becoming exempt from the “common external tariff”.

In October, French President Francois Hollande — who called the likely hard Brexit the biggest crisis in the EU’s history – demanded that Britain must pay a heavy economic price for leaving the EU.

Mr Hollande said at the time: “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.

“There must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price. Otherwise we will be in a negotiation that cannot end well.”

Just before the EU referendum, France’s economy minister Emmanuel Macron, who is now running as an independent in the French presidential elections, warned leaving the EU would make Britain a “little” trading post as insignificant on the world stage as Guernsey.