Emmanuel Macron has taken a final swipe at the “lies and false promises” behind Brexit as the UK cut ties with the EU.
The French President said the UK would remain a “friend and ally” in his New Year’s message – but made a thinly-veiled jab at Boris Johnson.
“A few days ago, we reached an agreement to organise our future relations, defending our interests, our industries, our fishermen and our unity,” he said.
“The United Kingdom remains our neighbour but also our friend and ally.
“This choice of leaving Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises.”
Mr Macron was one of the toughest EU leaders in negotiations for a trade deal, which passed into law less than 24 hours before EU rules ended last night.
UK officials believe he was behind a late move attempting to keep Britain “mirroring” EU rules into the future, to guarantee a level playing field for business.
The EU eventually backed down and said each side could set its own laws on the environment, workers’ rights and state aid.
However, the UK could be slapped with EU tariffs or vice versa if one zone is seen to be undercutting businesses in the other.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson – as a key figurehead in the Vote Leave campaign – was often accused of misleading people in the 2016 referendum.
He backed Vote Leave’s claim that £350m a week paid to the EU could return to the NHS, when in fact no such figure was spent on the EU.
Last week he claimed the UK will be able to catch as many fish as it likes in UK waters after 2026, when in fact it’ll be subject to annual talks.
The PM also falsely claimed there’ll be “no non-tariff barriers” in UK-EU trade, despite the fact customs declarations are needed from today.
Mr Macron told the French people: “I want to tell you very clearly this evening, our destiny is first of all in Europe.
“Our sovereignty is national and I will do everything to ensure we remain the masters of our destiny and our lives.
“But this sovereignty also acts through the stronger, more autonomous and more united EU that we have built in 2020.”
