UK can’t cherry pick EU rules in future relationship: Hollande
The UK will not be able to cherry pick the European Union’s rules in its future relationship with the bloc, French President Francois Hollande says.
Hollande said on Tuesday that Britain would not be able to keep all the advantages of the EU’s single market but refuse free movement of people.
"The four freedoms: we cannot have the freedom of capital movement, the freedom of goods, the freedom of services and then say, 'when it comes to people, stay put!' Well no, it doesn't work that way. It is the four freedoms or none," the French President said as he arrived at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
In a referendum held in the UK last week, a majority of Britons voted to leave the 28-member bloc after 43 years of membership.
The vote result sent shockwaves through the political and economic sectors both in the UK and in Europe. It also led to the announcement of the resignation of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned extensively for the UK to stay in the EU.
The UK should invoke Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty in order to set out a two-year timetable for negotiations on withdrawal. Cameron said it is up for the next prime minister to activate Article 50 and begin formal talks for the country’s exit from the bloc.
Hollande also urged Britain to begin the negotiations “as fast as possible” as other EU states do not have “time to lose” to plan their future without the UK.
He also noted that it was a historic moment for the EU but that “history continues” and "Europe doesn't stop" with Britain’s decision to leave.
Also on Tuesday, the European Parliament held a session during which European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker did not speak English.
He addressed the EU lawmakers in French and German languages.
Earlier this week, Danuta Hubner, the head of the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, said English will not be among EU’s official languages after Britain departs from the bloc.
“We have a regulation … where every EU country has the right to notify one official language,” she said, adding that only the UK has notified English and “If we don’t have the UK, we don’t have English.”
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