French president calls for Brexit talks as soon as possible

French President Francois Hollande says Brexit talks must start “as soon as possible,” stressing that Britain should not have access to the European Union’s single market unless it allows free movement of EU workers.

"The sooner the negotiations are open the better, and the shorter the better,” Hollande said in a press conference following his talks with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny in Dublin on Thursday.  

Hollande, due to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Elysee Palace in Paris later on Thursday, said he would like to hear May’s justification for the delay in the Brexit talks.

"First we spoke of September, then October and now December. There needs to be justifications. If it is to delay the negotiation, which itself could take time, I think it would create a damaging uncertainty," Hollande said.

"If it is to have more time for the negotiations so that the negotiations are shorter, then that can be envisaged."

Hollande has previously said Brexit "cannot be delayed or cancelled" and has called on London to start the process of leaving the EU immediately.

Britain voted to leave the EU in June, but May has indicated she does not plan to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty initiating the UK’s departure from the EU before the end of 2016.

During her first foreign trip since taking office, May told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday that she needed time to prepare for a “sensible and orderly departure.”

"We will not invoke Article 50 until our objectives are clear, which is why I've said already this will not happen before the end of this year," May said, referring to the formal process for leaving the EU.

SS