FRANCE would have probably voted to leave the European Union if it had staged a similar referendum on membership, its president has said.
Emmanuel Macron said he believed Britain backed Brexit because "a lot of losers" of globalisation had "decided it was no more for them".
Going to voters with a Yes/No vote on a "complicated" issue is always a "risk", he explained.
"You always take a risk when you have such a referendum; just yes or no in a very complicated context," Mr Macron told BBC One's The Andrew Marr show.
Asked whether or not France would have returned the same result, he replied: "Yes. Probably, in a similar context but our context was very different, so I don't want to take any bets. I would have definitely fought very hard to win.
"But it is a mistake to just ask yes or no when you don't ask people how to improve the situation and to explain how to improve it," he said.
Also in the interview, Mr Macron suggested Britain would secure a bespoke trade deal but made clear that access to the single market could not be as full as being a member of the EU. He also once again left the door open to Brexit being reversed.
The French head of state said he would "love" to welcome the UK back into the EU fold and insisted the group of member states would become 27 "unhappily".
After a UK-France summit at the Sandhurst military academy on Thursday he said France would not give in to British demands for the financial services sector to be covered by a Brexit trade deal.
He pointed out there was "a competition between different countries" to attract financial services companies in the future and that France wanted "to attract the maximum activity".
Asked if it was inevitable that Britain would leave, he replied: "I mean, it's on your own. It depends on you. I mean, I do respect this vote, I do regret this vote, and I would love to welcome you again."
Mr Macron said full access for financial services to the single market was “not feasible".
Pressed on whether or not there would be a bespoke special solution for Britain, he said: "Sure, but...this special way should be consistent with the preservation of the single market and our collective interests.
"And you should understand that you cannot, by definition, have the full access to the single market if you don't tick the box."
He added: "So it's something perhaps between this full access and a trade agreement."
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