Macron Reportedly Braces for No-Deal Brexit, Sees UK in Europe's 'Second Ring'

During the week, the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters that the 28-member bloc was ready to offer the UK close ties once its divorce from the EU is complete.

French President Emmanuel Macron will allegedly use a forthcoming meeting in Salzburg, Austria to urge EU leaders to seal a post-Brexit deal with the United Kingdom, The Times reported.

READ MORE: German Foreign Minister, EU Chief Brexit Negotiator Hold Presser After Talks

According to the media outlet, the French president will lay out his vision of a new structure for European alliances based on “concentric circles,” with the EU and the euro at its core, while the UK will presumably be in a second ring.

The Times cited anonymous diplomatic sources as saying, “He sees a no-deal scenario as something that would break links and poison relations at a time when Europe needs to be united beyond the EU.”

Even though the paper suggests that the French president is allegedly softening his stance, while giving the annual Ambassador’s Conference speech Monday Macron asserted that Brexit couldn’t divide the European Union, suggesting that unity was more important than building a strong relationship with the UK once it leaves the bloc.

“Brexit is a sovereign choice, which we must respect. But it can’t come at the expense of the EU’s integrity. France wants to maintain a strong, special relationship with London, but not if the cost is the EU’s unravelling. We will have to build a strategic partnership with the UK but the priority is rebuilding the EU,” the French president said.

The Times’ report follows the joint presser the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas held on August 29 in Berlin. Barnier expressed some optimism for the future relationship between the European Union and the UK, offering Britain an unprecedented partnership.

“We are prepared to offer Britain a partnership such as there never has been with any other third country,” he said, adding that it could include economic, foreign and security policy ties.

“We respect Britain’s red lines scrupulously. In return, they must respect what we are. Single market means single market… There is no single market a la carte,” he elaborated.

READ MORE: UK, EU May Fail to Finalize Brexit Deal by October Deadline — Brexit Secretary

Barnier’s comments, in turn, came as UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab stated that Brussels and London may fail to finalize the deal on the UK’s exit from the bloc by the October deadline.

“It is important as we enter the final phase of the negotiations in the lead up to the October council and the possibility that it may creep beyond that, we want to see some renewed energy. We’re bringing the ambition and the substance of our white paper on the future relationship and also, I think, some pragmatism to try and go the extra mile to get the deal that I think is in both sides’ interests. We need that to be matched obviously – it’s a negotiation,” he said.

At the same time, Raab reiterated the Theresa May government’s commitment to meeting the deadline and coordinating divorce terms by October, notwithstanding negotiations being deadlocked on a number of issues between the two sides.

Last month, the British government adopted a much-debated White Paper on Brexit, which envisages the creation of a UK-EU free trade area, based on a “common rulebook” that will see both parties play along the same standards – a proposal that has already been blasted by European leaders, including Macron.

The UK voted to leave the 28-member bloc in a June 2016 referendum, with the Brexit negotiations officially kicking off a year later to see the country exit the union in March 2019.