Theresa May hails ‘one of UK’s oldest and closest allies’ as she prepares to host president for 35th UK-France summit on 18 JanuaryThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, will make his first presidential visit to Britain when he meets Theresa May for talks later this month, Downing Street has said. Nevertheless, following the decision last month of EU leaders to green light the second phase of the Brexit talks, Britain’s impending withdrawal from the bloc is likely to feature prominently in their discussions. The French president last week urged EU leaders to maintain their united front as the negotiations moved on to discuss transitional arrangements after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019, as well as a future free trade agreement. Meanwhile, prominent figures in the City believe France is seeking to use Brexit as an opportunity to make inroads into Britain’s traditional dominance of the financial services sector. “And our two countries also enjoy deep economic ties, sharing £71bn in trade, making France the UK’s third-largest trading partner.”

Source: The Guardian January 07, 2018 01:52 UTC