Macron welcomes the possibility of Britain's return.. "Brexit is the biggest lie"

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French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the possibility of Britain returning to the European Union, coinciding with the reopening of discussion in the United Kingdom regarding the relationship with the European bloc, including the possibility of returning to its membership.

Macron said, during a conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in Madrid, on Wednesday, that he would welcome Britain's return to the European Union if it decided to rejoin the bloc, considering that Britain's return "would be excellent news and a good decision," while Sanchez supported the French president's position.

Macron pointed out that London cannot choose what suits it from the freedoms of the European Union while keeping the rest of the obligations outside the framework of membership, adding: “We can see the limits of what Britain can do when it wants to re-engage with us while remaining outside the Union, because you cannot choose the freedoms that the Union provides... You cannot decide to get what suits you and leave the rest.”

Before his statements at the press conference, Macron described “Brexit” as “the biggest lie of the past thirty years,” during a meeting with students at the Complutense University in Madrid on Tuesday evening, as part of his official visit to Spain.

He also described Britain's exit from the Union as a "disastrous exception," criticizing the promises that accompanied the campaign to leave the bloc, adding: "Those who said: We will become richer, after ten years, the GDP declined by eight points. They said: We will solve the immigration problem, but it has become more complex than it was before. They said: We will achieve tremendous success in international trade, but the situation has become worse."

Macron's statements came at a time when the "Brexit" issue returned to the forefront of political debate in Britain, after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that he would present various options regarding the long-term relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, including remaining outside the bloc, strengthening cooperation through the customs union or the single market, all the way to the possibility of "going to the end" and returning to European Union membership.

Meanwhile, Burnham said, in an interview with BBC Radio on Wednesday, that Britain could “proceed to the end,” referring to the possibility of reconsidering European Union membership, stressing that the government will study what is possible and the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

The British Prime Minister had pledged, during the Labor Party conference in Liverpool, to present various options to the country regarding its long-term relationship with its European partners, in conjunction with his assertion that “Brexit caused more harm than it achieved benefit,” as he presented a negative assessment of the results of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Note that the United Kingdom left the European Union, its single market, and its customs union on December 31, 2020, after years of negotiations that followed the 2016 referendum. Since then, London and Brussels have been seeking to reset the relationship between the two sides through new agreements and arrangements in the areas of trade, energy, immigration, and mobility, while Britain and the European Union are preparing for an upcoming summit to discuss more aspects of cooperation next November.