France's Hollande says Britain must play by EU rules for single market access

BRUSSELS: French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday stressed that Britain would have to abide by European Union rules once it divorced from the bloc if it wanted to maintain access to the single market.

Speaking after a European Council summit, Hollande also said that defence and energy agreements with Britain would remain in place after it terminated its membership of the EU, citing EDF's Hinkley Point nuclear power project in southern England as one such.

Meanwhile, European member states would likely have to increase private and public investments to offset the economic impact of the Brexit vote on growth, Hollande said.