But there may be trouble ahead with France urging the UK to get on with the arduous and fraught task of divorcing itself from the EU. Hollande has a presidential election looming next year and faces the far-right National Front, which wants France to leave the EU too. "No one wants things to be up in the air -- neither Britain nor the member states of the EU," Merkel said. "Of course Britain will come to an agreement with the EU, but the French government does not want the UK to have all the benefits of being in the EU, without actually being a part of it," said Premat. The diplomat said Britain could not get a custom-made agreement on its future relations with the EU.

Source: The Local July 21, 2016 10:52 UTC