France's Macron offers 'open door' if Britain chooses to stay in EU

June 14 (UPI) -- French President Emmanuel Macron said Britain could stay in the European Union if it chooses to despite exit negotiations beginning next week.

"The door remains open, always open until the Brexit negotiations come to an end" Macron said Tuesday after meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Paris.

Macron's comments could be seen as an encouraging sign for those in Britain who seek a "soft Brexit" in which Britain would maintain its single-market access to EU countries despite leaving the economic bloc. It also suggested that the British decision to abandon the 28-member organization of European countries could be reversed, The Guardian reported Tuesday.

Britain chose to leave the EU in a narrow referendum in 2016.

Negotiations were delayed as Britain undertook a change of leadership in the past year, and the government formulated its stance on which EU membership benefits it would attempt to keep. Macron added on Tuesday that talks should be "launched as soon as possible," adding, "Once the negotiations have started, we should be well aware that it will be more difficult to move backwards."

Macron's comments came hours after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble offered a similar message, saying the EU would find a way to keep Britain in its ranks if it chose not to leave.

"The British government has said we will stay with the Brexit. [The EU takes] the decision as a matter of respect, but if they wanted to change their decision, of course, they would find open doors," Schauble said in an interview Tuesday.