He warned that contrary to some media reports he would not be stepping in to help smooth over the troubled Brexit negotiations and, together with Dutch president Mark Rutte urged David Davis to basically cave in to EU demands so the process could “move on to the next stage”.
Macron spoke out after EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier found his counterpart Mr Davis unwilling to be cowed by unreasonable EU demands for BILLIONS of euros in a so-called ‘divorce settlement’.
The money-grabbing sticking point is preventing serious and vital debate over the future of major issues such as trade, law and human rights.
But in a joint news conference with Dutch prime minister Rutte Mr Macron said: “It is only once Mr Barnier deems that sufficient progress has been made that we will be able to move on to the next stage and look to the future.
“We remain determined to protect the interests of the European Union in the context of Brexit.”
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Mr Barnier said on Thursday that the third round of Brexit talks this week had “failed” to make the kind of progress needed for serious divorce talks to start in October, adding that the future relationship between the UK and the bloc could only be determined once all 27 member states unanimously agreed that enough progress had been made on the terms of Britain’s departure, which is currently not the case.
The UK is to exit the EU, deal or no deal, in late March 2019, two years after prime minister Theresa May triggered Article 50.
Mr Rutte, for his part, said that EU leaders were “extremely preoccupied about the slow pace of negotiations,” adding that the “clock is ticking” on Brexit.
He added: “We cannot talk about the future until concrete progress is made.
“We are therefore urging the UK to make further progress on a range of issues.”
Mr Macron also used the opportunity to firmly deny claims France and other EU countries were at odds with Mr Barnier – and press speculation he may be called in to schmooze British negotiators and help break the deadlock.
He said: “I want to be very clear and reiterate our willingness of having only one negotiator and only one mandate.
“The only negotiator is Mr Barnier and I would like to clear up ambiguities regarding false information that were spread.”