Economist Etienne Chouard had his demands for Frexit – a French withdrawal from the European Union – was met with uproarious applause as he put forward his proposal at a public conference in Romans-sur-Isère, southeast France, earlier this week. Mr Chouard had barely let out the suggestion when members of the audience erupted in applause, forcing the economist to pause for some time before resuming his argument. The French economist said: “We must get out of the European Union but we must know how to get out.

“On the legal side, we must respect the terms of Article 50 like in Great Britain.

“But we must not do as Great Britain because the Britons put the reins of the country, the reins of the process under Article 50, in the hands of Mrs May – who was hostile to Brexit.

“So you have someone who’s hostile to Brexit in charge of organising Brexit, which explains the mess currently happening in the UK.”

Mr Chouard has been a long-time opponent of plans for further EU integration, rising to prominence in 2005 against plans to adopt the EU Consitution which French voters rejected by a 55-45 percent majority later the same year.

Growing eurosceptic feelings across the European Union sparked fears in French President Emmanuel Macron of potential calls for Frexit – which pushed the leader to issue a warning to voters ahead of the European election scheduled for May.

The French President said Brexit has “torn British society apart” and “can’t be delivered” when addressing Yellow Vests protesters who want France to leave the European Union in January. 

Mr Macron said: “Take the British. They voted for Brexit. There were people who, in good faith, were sometimes as angry as you are, and they said that the source of all their ills was Europe. It’s rubbish.

“There were people who voted for Brexit, who did it in good faith, they were angry, and they thought their situation was impossible because the system was unjust.”

He continued: “People are starting to realise that all the figures they were given are entirely false, and what they were told could be done overnight, in fact, can’t be delivered.

“And in the end it’s going to cost them. In this context do you think that the referendum was a good thing?

“No, because it didn’t allow for an informed, transparent and calm debate. It’s torn a society apart, and it’s left it open to disinformation coming from abroad, or terrible manipulation.”

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has publicly sympathised with the Yellow Vests and asked for their support.

Mrs Le Pen’s nationalist movement is currently poised to win the most French seats in May’s parliamentary vote, reflecting an EU-wide shift towards the populist right.

In November, Mrs Le Pen’s RN moved ahead of Mr Macron’s La Republique en Marche (LREM) party for the first time in a poll of voting intentions for the May elections.

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