Former Brexit negotiator and now French president hopeful Michel Barnier has been publicly questioning EU’s power over French laws and now a French political commentator has claimed Europhile Mr Macron is “increasingly isolated” in Brussels.
Anne-Elisabeth Moutet attributes it to Mr Macron still taking Brexit “personally” although five years have passed since the memorable referendum.
Mr Macron has taken a hard stance on fishing rights which he thought the EU would support but the bloc opted for a softer approach.
Annick Girardin, his minister for sea, gave the UK an ultimatum over fishing rights at the beginning of October.
READ MORE: Knives out for Macron as ex-President Hollande calls him a FROG
Posting her plan on Twitter, she said: “Brexit: 15 days to obtain the definitive fishing licences in the standoff with the United Kingdom.
“Here is my work schedule.
“The action plan is clear: unite our partners and initiate the necessary response!”
As per Ms Girardin’s schedule, the countdown started on September 29 and gave Mr Johnson until October 13 to answer to the threat.
But Brussels stepped in with a far softer attitude and 11 coastal bloc members signed a document agreeing to find a solution that suits all.
This made France furious, to which Lord Frost said: “We have granted 98 percent of the licence applications from EU boats to fish in our waters according to the different criteria in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement, so we do not accept that we are not abiding by that agreement.
“We have been extremely generous and the French, focusing in on a small category of boats and claiming we have behaved unreasonably, I think is not really a fair reflection of the efforts we have made.”
What followed were protests of angry French fishermen — including threats that they would block Jersey — and Macron demanding retaliation from the EU… instructions the bloc did not follow.
The AUKUS deal which saw Australia drop a deal with the French in favour of nuclear-powered submarines is also still likely a bitter point of contention.
Boris Johnson told Mr Macron to “prenez un grip”, the increasingly isolated president is likely to still be angry over the military pact between the UK, Australia and the US.
Adding to his “franglais” message, the Prime Minister said: “This is fundamentally a great step forward for global security.
“It’s three very like-minded allies standing shoulder-to-shoulder, creating a new partnership for the sharing of technology.”