Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing sent a clear message to the United Kingdom: “We love you. Don’t leave us now.”
The veteran French politician, 90, said although Britain has a “semi-detached” relationship with Europe, it is worth fighting to keep the U.K. within the Union.
“I strongly hope they stay,” he said in an interview with Reuters.
Giscard d’Estaing took office a year after Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973. During his time at the Élysée Palace he spearheaded the drafting of a European constitution, which was voted down in referendums in France and the Netherlands.
Europe was perfectly capable of accommodating a member country that wanted to be in the single market but not join the euro or be drawn into a closer political union, he said, adding that “from the outset, Britain positioned itself somewhat at a tangent to the European system.”
“The current efforts by David Cameron’s government run along the same lines.”
A Brexit would harm the U.K.’s economy, he said. “London’s prosperity is very much built on its financial activity, and breaking or weakening that link would certainly have a negative effect on the prosperity of London.”
“The British will wonder ‘what are we going to do now?’ and Europeans will say ‘It’s too bad the British left.'”