‘Welcome back’: Macron and Sanchez embrace prospect of UK return to EU

“If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think that is very good news both for his country and for Europeans,” Macron told a news conference in Madrid on Wednesday, adding: “Come back."

Macron was responding to comments from Burnham earlier in the day in which he said rejoining should be among the options considered, as the UK decides what its long-term relationship with the EU should look like.

Burnham, who became prime minister in July after Labour MPs ousted Keir Starmer, said the UK needed to consider different possibilities for its future ties with the bloc. Speaking at the Labour party's annual conference, he said he would set out those options in greater detail around the time of a planned UK-EU summit later this year.

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Burnham's 'boldness'

Macron made it clear that France would be receptive to a British rethink, while also recalling the sometimes difficult relationship between London and its EU partners before Brexit.

The British had “always been useful in helping us simplify things” during their years in the EU, he said, describing them as “demanding partners”.

“Andy Burnham is right to have this boldness,” Macron said, while also warning that the UK could not expect to enjoy the advantages of closer integration while remaining outside the bloc.

“You cannot choose between the freedoms of the union and decide to take what suits us and not the rest,” he said.

The UK voted to leave the EU by 52 percent to 48 percent in the 2016 referendum and formally left the bloc in January 2020.

Burnham has not committed his government to seeking membership again, but his remarks mark a notable shift in tone, bringing the question of rejoining back into the political debate.

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Spain 'would open its arms'

Speaking alongside Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered an equally warm response, describing Brexit as “a huge loss, both for the British population and for the whole European project”.

If the UK were to seek membership again, he added, “then of course Spain would applaud it and open its arms again to a brotherly people”.

The UK and the EU have been seeking closer cooperation in several areas, and Burnham has indicated he wants a broader discussion about relations with the bloc.

Rejoining the EU would nevertheless be a lengthy process, requiring negotiations with all 27 member states and agreement on the terms of any return.

For now, Burnham is stopping well short of proposing an immediate application.

(with newswires)