Hollande joins Merkel in snubbing Theresa May’s plan to agree EU divorce at same time as trade deal as leaders try to BULLY her over Brexit
His comments in a call to Theresa May echo words by Angela Merkel yesterday in response to her triggering of Article 50
FRANCOIS Hollande has told Theresa May the UK will not be allowed to agree its EU divorce at the same time as setting up a new trade deal.
The French President becomes the second senior European leader to snub the Prime Minister’s timetable after he echoed Angela Merkel’s comments yesterday.
Ireland - one of Britain’s closest allies in the bloc - also insisted exit terms must be sorted before talks start on a new deal.
The move is indicative of how the remaining EU countries want to try to force Mrs May’s hand when it comes to the timetable for Brexit talks.
The PM wants to run both aspects of our divorce in parallel, with David Davis arguing this morning that it makes sense to discuss everything together.
But Mr Hollande, speaking after the PM triggered Article 50 yesterday, told her in a telephone call: "First we must begin discussions on the modalities of the withdrawal, especially on the rights of citizens and the obligations arising from the commitments that the United Kingdom has made."
A statement from the Elysee Palace said: "The President indicated that the talks must at first be about the terms of withdrawal, dealing especially with citizens' rights and obligations resulting from the commitments made by the United Kingdom.
"On the basis of the progress made, we could open discussions on the framework of future relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union."
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It comes after Ms Merkel said yesterday: "The negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our interlinked relationship.
“And only when this question is dealt with, can we, hopefully soon after, begin talking about our future relationship."
Brexit Secretary David Davis added to the bitter row by making clear there was no chance of the UK paying “anything like” the £50billion figure touted by Brussels.
Britain was also told not to expect a penny in return for its share of EU assets in a Thatcher-style refund.
Germany’s foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said: “There will be no UK rebate.”
It is the second flare-up between Mrs May and the EU since formally notifying our intention to leave, after she was accused of “blackmail” by appearing to suggest security co-operation was at stake if we did not end with a trade deal.
Newspapers on the continent lined up behind their country’s leaders to slam Mrs May’s approach, with Spanish newspaper El Pais describing her Article 50 letter as “poison wrapped in cellophane, iron fist in silk glove, high-voltage cynicism wrapped in exquisitely diplomatic language”.
But Brexit Secretary David Davis dismissed the accusations, insisting her warning of weakened security was “not in any sense a threat”.
In response Downing Street said the PM had made a series of calls to European leaders, including Mr Hollande, and claimed they had welcomed her "constructive" approach.
Her official spokesman said she had set out that a "strong EU is in everyone's interests" and had emphasised that she wanted to remain a "close committed ally and form a deep and special partnership".
The spokesman refused to go into details of the call with Mr Hollande but insisted that the UK's position on the structure of the negotiations remained unchanged - and was set out in Article 50.
He said: "We believe that the negotiations should take place in parallel.
"It does make clear in Article 50 that the future arrangements of the country that is leaving the EU should be part of the framework for the Article 50 process."
And he added that the feedback on the letter Mrs May had received from her European counterparts was that the "tone of the letter was appreciated and considered to be constructive".
Mr Tusk claimed that Brexit had made the remaining 27 member states “more determined and more united than before”.
In a plea to stick together, he said: “For rational and responsible patriots who want to maintain sovereignty and independence of their nations and states, there is no alternative to a united and sovereign Europe.”