‘Long and vain’: Europe’s press reacts to Theresa May’s Florence speech

Following months of tortured negotiation between the UK and the EU, Theresa May delivered her speech in Florence yesterday in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock. Mrs May proposed a two-year transition period during which Britain would retain its access to the single market and confirmed that the UK Government will honour its commitments to the EU budget. She also spoke of the ‘shared challenges and opportunities’ that face the UK and the EU in a bid to build consensus.

Here’s how Europe’s press reacted to the long-awaited speech.

France

France’s centre-left daily, Le Monde, agrees with Theresa May that Brexit negotiations can be extended beyond March 2019, however, points out that all member states must be in favour of such a move. Ridiculing her ‘long and vain developments on the Italian Renaissance’, the paper identifies a change in Theresa May’s tone since her Lancaster House speech and laments the fact that it has taken ‘eight months to take a few steps’.

Le Figaro picks up on Theresa May’s new, sympathetic approach to Brexit negotiations, observing the way in which she ‘unveiled her broadest smile’ when she discussed the shared history between the UK and the EU.