It was presented in the French press as a desperate
Theresa May flying to the south of France to enlist the president’s help with Brexit.
Fine food and wine served with a dose of politics was on the menu for a private dinner between
Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, and May and her husband, Philip, at the 13th-century Fort Brégançon.
As the Mays’ convoy wound its way up the rocky road to the fort, the
weather forecast provided an appropriate metaphor: a sunny start to the
evening, storms expected later and clouds before sunset.
Macron had travelled to the state summer house on the Mediterranean
coast earlier in the day after his last council of ministers in Paris.
The Mays arrived from Lake Garda in Italy, where they had been
holidaying.
May was counting on a personal approach to persuade Macron to soften EU resistance to her
Brexit plan during their “informal” two-hour meeting.
The prime minister, in a dark jacket and grey dress with a necklace
of large green and white balls, and Macron, in a long-sleeved shirt and
dark tie, sat side by side at a table installed in the interior
courtyard of the fort.
Their advisers were seated either side of the
table. Behind them, a union jack, an EU flag and a French
tricolore had been hastily installed.
Whatever May’s expectations, Macron made it clear beforehand that he
would do nothing to undermine the efforts of the EU’s designated
negotiator, Michel Barnier.
“The plan was to go to Brégançon, which is to be a summer residence
but also a place for working, and since May was finishing her vacation
in Italy we proposed hosting her here,” a source in Macron’s office
said.
May was going to lay out “London’s position on the Brexit talks and
its future relations with the EU,” the source said. “It will be the
occasion to clarify this proposal and discuss the political context.
Macron has long dismissed attempts by British negotiators to
divide and rule, refusing to become personally involved in the talks and
potentially weaken Barnier’s hand.
As a result, the Elysée said there would be no press conference or
statement after the meeting. “There is absolutely no intention to speak
in place of Michel Barnier,” the presidential source added.
Read more: May and Macron hold 'informal' Brexit talks in France | Politics | The Guardian
