Emmanuel Macron has made clear the EU cannot become a “hostage” to Britain’s Brexit crisis.

The French President made clear that credible justifications for Brussels granting the UK a longer extension included an election a second referendum or alternative proposals for the future relationship such as a customs union.

He stressed that the EU would be "open" to such proposals but it was for London to put them forward.

"A long extension involving the participation of the UK in European elections and European institutions is far from evident and certainly not [to be taken] for granted.

"Our priority shall be the good functioning of the EU and the single market. The EU cannot sustainably be the hostage to the solution to a political crisis in the UK," declared Mr Macron.

He added: "We cannot spend the coming months sorting out yet again the terms of our divorce and dealing with the past."

Speaking ahead of talks with Ireland’s Leo Varadkar at the Elysee Palace in Paris, the President said: "The third rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the Commons as well as the rejections of any alternative pave the way for a no-deal exit.

"As decided by the European Council on March 22, it is for the UK to present a credible alternative plan backed by a majority by April 10 in order to avoid it.

"Should the United Kingdom be unable to - three years after the referendum - propose a solution backed by a majority, they will de facto have chosen for themselves to leave without a deal. We cannot avoid failure for them," he insisted.

Mr Macron claimed France and Ireland would be the EU nations most directly affected by a no-deal Brexit.

"I'm fully aware of the tremendous difficulties such a situation would bring about for Ireland," he explained and added: “We will never abandon Ireland or the Irish people, no matter what happens, because this solidarity is the very purpose of the European project."

Mr Varadkar thanked France for its solidarity during the difficult Brexit process.

"The UK is being consumed by Brexit but Ireland and France and the EU shouldn't be consumed by Brexit; we have a positive agenda for the EU which we want to deliver," he said.

The Taoiseach went on to explain: "At the last European Council meeting we gave the UK some time and space to come up with way forward; as it stands they will leave the EU on April 12 without a deal. However, there is still time for the Prime Minister to come to the Council[next Wednesday] with proposals…that are credible and have clear pathway to success and we need to be open to any proposals she might bring forward to us."

Mr Varadkar then told reporters that he wanted to talk about what we can do to assist Mrs May to help her secure the ratification of Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop.

"Recognising that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be opened, but if the UK changes red lines we could make changes to the declaration on the future relationship.

"Also, we'll need to consider how we may respond to any request for a long extension, that will involve UK participating in EU elections and we want to avoid a rolling extension, so any extension must have a clear purpose and plan.”

The Irish premier added: "We'll need to talk about what we will do in the event of a no-deal, which will be particularly difficult for Ireland, and from our point of view, we'll want to pursue our twin objectives: to protect the Good Friday Agreement on which peace in Northern Ireland is based and protect the integrity of the single market and customs union, which Ireland's economic model has been based for decades."