Macron's heir Gabriel Attal invites Britain to join a 'United States of Europe' in a de facto Brexit reversal

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Gabriel Attal, the 37-year-old frontrunner to succeed Emmanuel Macron as French president, has called for Britain to rejoin European integration through a new 'United States of Europe' — a tighter bloc of eight to ten countries sharing common debt, taxes and labour rules under a directly elected president. Attal, France's youngest-ever prime minister, said the EU's 27-nation model has 'reached its limits' against the might of the US and China. He also wants France's nuclear deterrent to become a 'new European nuclear umbrella' as reliance on Washington fades. The proposal goes further than simple EU membership, binding members into what amounts to a single economy.

Attal said: 'I hope that one day the United Kingdom will find its place again in this adventure, if it freely chooses to join it.'

The plan faces resistance from Eurosceptic EU members and fiscally cautious states such as Germany and the Netherlands, who oppose common debt.

Marine Le Pen, polling at up to 35 per cent, could yet take the Élysée in 2027 and bury the entire proposal before it leaves the drawing board.