Long Article 50 extension not guaranteed: Macron

TheFrench president, Emmanuel Macron, has said it should not be taken forgranted that the EU would grant the UK a long extension on its departurefrom the bloc.Welcoming Ireland’s Leo Varadkar to Paris for talks at the Elyseeyesterday, Macron said that as the clock ticked down and a no-dealBrexit became more likely, it was far from evident that the EU wouldagree to a British request for a further Article 50 extension.“A long extension, implying the UK takes part in European elections andEuropean institutions, has nothing easy or automatic about it,” Macronsaid.“I say that again very strongly. Our priority must be the goodfunctioning of the EU and the single market. The EU can’t be heldhostage long-term by the resolution of a political crisis in the UK.”He continued: “The three times rejection of the withdrawal agreement bythe House of Commons and the rejection of all alternative plans now putsus on the path of a UK exit without a deal. “As the European council decided in March, it’s now up to the UK topresent a credible alternative plan backed by a majority before April 10in order to avoid that. If the UK isn’t capable “almost three yearsafter the referendum” of putting forward a solution that gets amajority, it will have decided itself, de facto, to leave without adeal.“And we can’t avoid failure for the UK.”Macron, a pro-European, wants to push forward with his own plans for EUreform and is keen for Brexit not to overshadow all other concerns. Publicly, he has positioned France as the toughest-talking nation in theBrexit saga, stressing the need for the UK to present a way forward. Macron said the EU’s priority was protecting its workings and the singlemarket: “We have a future to build together in the EU and a futurerelationship to build with the UK, which will be an ally, but we can’tspend the next months still trying to fix the rules of our divorce andlooking to the past.”Macron met Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, to discuss no-deal plans forthe Irish border as well as how to handle any extension request fromTheresa May.Macron said France and Ireland, as the UK’s neighbours, were the twocountries most affected by a potential no-deal exit.  Macron said the EUhad total “unity and solidarity” with Ireland.“We’ll never abandon Ireland and the Irish people, because that solidarity is the very sense of the European project,” he said. Varadkar stressed there was still time for the British prime minister tocome to the European council before April 10 with “credible” proposals,and he said the EU should be open to such proposals.