‘End of road’ for EU: Now France's LEFTIES blast Brussels for plunging Europe into crisis

MORE and more people are calling time on the European Union in France - with even left-wing politicians in the country now saying it is the “end of the road”.

PUBLISHED: 09:21, Thu, Aug 25, 2016 | UPDATED: 16:25, Thu, Aug 25, 2016

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Arnaud Montebourg has declared the EU has reached the 'end of the road'

While right-wing French leaders like Marine Le Pen have long-opposed the 28-country bloc, even Arnaud Montebourg, a leadership candidate for the Socialist Party, is making his disgust clear.

Mr Montebourg, who previously served in the party under Francois Hollande before stepping down after claiming it had swung too far to the right, said the EU had plunged the continent into “crisis”.

He said: “I believe that we have reached the end of road for the European Union, and that France no longer has any interest in it.

“The EU has left us mired in crisis long after the rest of the world has moved on.”

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Arnaud Montebourg is a left-wing socialist who strongly opposes the EU

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Marine Le Pen, a ferocious Eurosceptic, is surging in the polls

While he stopped short of calling for Frexit, he did declare France would no longer be tied to EU treaties or regulations.

He said: “I am not in favour of a French Brexit, but we can longer accept a Europe like that.

“As far as I am concerned, the current treaties have elapsed. I will be inspired by the General de Gaulle's policy of the 'empty chair', a strike against the EU.”

According to recent polls, 61 per cent of French nationals now oppose the EU - one of the highest figures in Europe.