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Emmanuel Macron On Brink: 'EU Could Fail' Confession Exposed Amid Fresh Row Over Frexit EMMANUEL MACRON confessed that the EU could fail its citizens if changes were not made, before he accused the UK of unsettling the bloc as a result of Brexit. PUBLISHED: 17:26, Wed, Jan 6, 2021| UPDATED: 17:32, Wed, Jan 6, 2021 Macron and France 'are failing' on vaccine rollout says Moutet The French President is under major pressure from the public, due to his country's slow response to the coronavirus vaccine roll-out. This week it emerged that France had only given 516 vaccinations in its first seven days of use, a stark contrast to Germany and the UK. As well as the growing fury surrounding his government's policy on vaccinations, Mr Macron is also facing a huge task in securing a second term as President. {%=o.Title%} ]]> His pro-EU tendencies have also been placed under the microscope. Days after the UK left the EU on January 1, Charles-Henri Gallois, the President of Generation Frexit - a term used to symbolise France's possible exit from the bloc - demanded that 2021 be the year the French are given a chance to vote on their place in Brussels. He said he hoped Mr Macron 'will allow the French people to also be able to express themselves democratically on our membership of the EU'. Mr Macron has also seen developing anti-EU sentiment grow as more than 10,000 people signed a petition urging the government to allow a vote. Emmanuel Macron's 'EU could fail' confession exposed as Frexit sentiment erupts (Image: GETTY) Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech in Lithuania (Image: PA) And with France beginning to establish a stronger pro-Frexit feeling, unearthed accounts show that Mr Macron himself was only too aware of how the bloc is considered by other member states. In an outraged speech, Mr Macron warned the EU it was 'screwed' if MEPs were not able to return to debate at the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, and just used the Brussels building. As a result of Covid-19 in September, plenary sessions had not taken place in Strasbourg, as the authorities wished to reduce travelling to control the virus. Traditionally, the European Parliament sits once every month in the French city, while all other sessions are held in Belgium. JUST IN: Britons furious as UK told to play by EU rules  How Daily Express covered Brexit (Image: EXPRESS) But during a visit to Lithuania, Mr Macron told university students he was trying to protect the bloc from misconceptions regarding its openness. He warned that it could spark anti-EU reactions if all sessions were just held in Brussels, as opposed to in France as well. He said: “At the moment I'm fighting tooth and nail for the idea that the European Parliament should convene in Strasbourg. 'If we accept that the European Parliament only gathers in Brussels, we're screwed, because in 10 years’ time everything will take place in Brussels and people will only speak amongst themselves in Brussels. DON'T MISS:EU crumbles as Irish fishermen turn on allies [ANALYSIS]Brexit could start 'rebellion against Germany' within EU [UPDATE]Macron ally brags Brexit makes the UK ‘weaker’ - but issues warning [INSIGHT] Marine Le Pen is set to challenge Mr Macron (Image: GETTY) “But Europe does not represent this idea, the idea is for everyone to respect each other, for one to go toward the other.” His comments on how to push the EU forward, particularly in the pandemic, came after the President attacked the UK for finally leaving the bloc this year. After months of talks, with Mr Macron reportedly putting up barriers on sticking points such as fishing alongside his German counterpart Angela Merkel, the UK was free to 'take back control' of its sovereignty, laws and trade. Yet, Mr Macron took a final swipe at the UK in his New Year's address to France. Brexit: Boris Johnson helped get Brexit done (Image: GETTY) He described the UK as 'our neighbour, our friend and ally,' but added: 'This choice to leave Europe, this Brexit, was the child of the European malaise and of many lies and false promises.' During his ninth televised address of the year, Mr Macron said the Brexit trade deal agreed with the UK was “defending our interests, our industries, our fishermen and our European unity'. Mr Macron faces re-election in 2022 and will likely come up against right-wing rival Marine Le Pen, a lawyer serving as head of the National Rally party. While facing the wave of negative EU criticism from the likes of Ms Le Pen, Mr Macron has continued to attempt to demonstrate how being part of the bloc is better than being out of it. Ursula von der Leyen is President of the European Commission (Image: GETTY) He has vowed to make France an even bigger voice, and used his presence in the trade talks to complain about fishing rights post-Brexit in British waters. Yet, his involvement caused Irish fishermen to turn on Mr Macron, arguing the new pact over fishing between the UK and EU demonstrated the 'duplicitous nature of the protracted negotiations'. Sean O'Donoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation - Ireland's largest fishermen's representative body - added that the 'repeated guarantees' made to those in the Irish trade had effectively been broken. Fellow critics, skipper Seamus Molloy, also criticised France, telling Afloat.Ie that the nation was 'militant enough and seem to get what they want all the time'. He added: 'We have seen Macron intervene with Michel Barnier [the EU's chief Brexit negotiator] and whatever happened between the two of them, this wasn't on the table. 'The Irish seem to have been sacrificed across the board - we seem to have lost a large part of our mackerel quota and prawn quota.' How the Brexit timeline played out (Image: EXPRESS) The trade deal will see the EU handing back 25 percent of its share of the catch in UK waters over a five-and-a-half year transition period. Annual negotiations on some 100 shared stocks will take place from 2026. Although some in France are opposed to Frexit, a poll in May 2020, showed that around three in five people in the country said they didn't trust Brussels. The Jacques Delors Institute’s study indicated that the lack of trust in the EU rose by 10 points since Mr Macron was first elected in 2017. Of those asked, 32 percent said they did trust the EU while the final 10 percent didn't express an opinion. Frexit NOW! EU 'propaganda' Ripped Apart As Pressure Piles Onto Emmanuel Macron Frexit: Charles-Henri Gallois issues warning to Brussels French President Emmanuel Macron has been hugely critical of Brexit since the historic referendum in 2016, with his Government regularly threatening to deadlock talks by voting down agreements if the terms did not adhere to their red lines. But now huge pressure is building on the French President, with the coined phrase 'Frexit' gathering significant pace on social media and even among France's own MEPs. Florian Philippot, who was Vice President of the National Front in France establishing The Patriots party in September 2017, claimed the scaremongering over the UK's departure shows Europhiles have now become 'very uneasy'. The former MEP of five years tweeted: 'When the much-advertised (and desired) Brexit disaster does not occur, they claim the consequences will be visible over ten years. 'EU supporters are very uneasy, and it is starting to show. Frexit quickly!' Mr Philippot was reacting to an article from French daily newspaper Le Monde entitled: 'Brexit: in the United Kingdom, no economic collapse but a slow crumbling'. The editorial claimed despite there not being the expected traffic chaos at the ports of Dover or Calais because of the new systems put in place to manage additional customs checks on goods, 'the effect of Brexit is real but its effects will spread over more than a decade”. Charles-Henri Gallois, President of the political movement Generation Frexit, also lashed out at Project Fear from within the bloc. Responding to an article from Euronews about the surprise around how quiet the ports of Dover and Calais have been following Brexit, he tweeted: 'We wonder what lie the EU propaganda flag of European Union will now be able to find against the Brexit.' Eric Noirez, who is also a member of the Generation Frexit Group, posted a series of tweets attacking Project Fear. He first wrote: 'Years go by, but the predictions of misfortune of our Europhile friends don't resist. READ MORE: Brexit LIVE: Rejoiner petition soars above 25,000 names Late on Thursday, he continued to lash out against Europhiles and those promoting Project Fear. Responding to the article from Euronews on the unexpected smooth running of ports at Dover and Calais after Brexit, he tweeted: 'Poor EU supporters: even the small fleeting complications that we could fear in the early days of Brexit, they don't have them! 'Missing toilet paper on planes that no longer take off, nothing that #projectfear promised has happened.' Last week, Generation Frexit President Mr Gallois ramped up his campaign by tweeting: 'If France is a democratic country, we must also give voice to the people about our EU membership.” He also posted a link to the website referendum-frexit.Org, which warns that following Brexit, France’s contribution to the EU will increase by €5billion a year to €29billion, which is the 'equivalent of 720 hospitals or 14,000 schools that will not be built'. The website adds the 'EU recovery plan' from the coronavirus pandemic will 'bind France until 2058 and cost us dearly: €40 billion net. 'It is much more than if we had taken this loan directly on our own. 'Moreover, we will not have the free use of this money! It is the European Commission which will decide. 'A fortiori when we know that the membership conditions have changed significantly since the vote on the Maastricht Treaty!' The website also warns: 'What is all this money going to be used for? The EU has been around for 27 years. 'It has already cost us hundreds of billions of euros. However, the situation in France has continued to deteriorate. With Covid-19, we are now in full collapse. 'The time has therefore come to take stock of the European Union. 'We must vote by referendum on our membership of the European Union: respect for democracy and the future of the French people require it.' Additional reporting by Maria Ortega. Pressure Grows On Macron Over French Vaccination 'Fiasco' President Emmanuel Macron on Monday faced growing pressure to accelerate France's Covid-19 vaccination drive which has seen just a few hundred people receive the jab, with the French leader himself reportedly livid over the sluggish pace. Just over 500 people have received the vaccine so far in France, with critics pointing to the figure of 200,000 people who have been immunised in Germany in a similar timeframe after the EU-wide rollout began a week ago. 'What we have seen is a government scandal,' Jean Rottner, the head of France's Grand Est eastern region, which has seen a particularly sharp rise in infections, told France 2 television. 'Things need to accelerate,' said Rottner, a member of the right-wing Republicans (LR) opposition party. 'The French need clarity and firm messages from a government that knows where it is going. It is not giving this impression.' With pressure growing on Macron to take personal responsibility for the situation, the Elysee said the president would host a meeting later Monday with officials including Prime Minister Jean Castex to discuss the vaccine rollout. The situation is worsened by a scepticism about vaccinations in France that is far higher than in other countries, despite being the country that produced Louis Pasteur, the 19th century scientist who pioneered immunisation. According to an opinion poll by Ipsos Global Advisor in partnership with the World Economic Forum last week, just 40 percent of French want to take the vaccine compared with 77 percent in Britain. Only about 500 people have received the vaccine in France so far Photo: AFP / Sameer Al-DOUMY In his New Year address to the nation, Macron had pledged there would be no 'unjustifiable delays' in the rollout of the vaccination, but the Journal du Dimanche newspaper reported Sunday that he has been scathing in private about the speed of progress. A pace at the level of 'a family stroll' was not 'worthy of the moment nor of the French,' the newspaper, seen as close to the Elysee Palace, quo