Frexit – oui ou non?

In France, Brexit has provoked resentment and shock. For many years-Britain has been seen in both Paris and-Brussels as the European ‘bad boy’, out for what it can get and intending to give as little as possible in return. The first news was greeted with headlines such as ‘Can Europe-survive?’ but there was also a note of relief: ‘End of 40 years of love-hate’. Even before the referendum, Emmanuel Macron, the finance minister, had denounced the British record in Europe, claiming that the-United Kingdom had hijacked the great project and diverted the Union from its political destiny in order to reduce it to a single market. Last week, as hostilities within the Labour party and among the ‘Brexit’ leadership erupted, Le Monde presented the story as a Shakespearean epic — ‘Tragic week for Britain as the kingdom’s political system is shattered’.

There is little interest in France in the possibility of a second British referendum and growing anger and astonishment that no plans appear to have been made in London for managing a dangerous situation for both Europe and France.