We want friendship, they want a fight

At the heart of the EU negotiations is money. Brussels has an ideological perspective, but it also needs cash – and for all its complaint that Brexit is a betrayal of solidarity and liberalism, it is Britain’s annual net contribution of £10.8 billion to the EU’s budget that Europe will really miss. If the Brexit talks appear stalled, that is why. The EU wants to squeeze as much money out of Britain as possible. Britain would rather it didn’t.

Today we report that the UK is prepared to pay €40 billion to settle our accounts – if, and this condition is important, the payment jump-starts talks about what happens next. Sceptics might ask why anyone on the British side would allow even a glimpse of their hand. Is it to prepare UK voters for having to pay for Brexit, a concept that might seem odd considering that it was told voting Leave would save the country money? Or is the intended audience for this the EU negotiating team? The talks have reportedly hit an impasse. Many European leaders are apparently keen to move the discussion on to trade – and it is Michel Barnier’s negotiating team that stands in the way.

Mr Barnier wants Britain to agree a divorce bill “methodology” that, in the view of the UK, contains no guarantees about future relations. Not only is this unreasonable, but it betrays the vastly different perspectives of London and Brussels. Granted, there is a lot of debate within the UK government over what post-Brexit Britain will look like, but its goal in these negotiations is essentially pragmatic: perhaps pay a little money to plug the EU’s finances in exchange for a long-term free-trade relationship that benefits everyone. It is the Europeans who are spoiling for a fight, the Europeans who want tie everything up in endless rows and make it appear as if Britain is paying the price for its alleged nationalism.

Indeed, the progress of these talks – or lack of it – reflects a cultural divide. The British are simply on the look-out for a good bargain, to part with the Europeans as friends we can do business with. Brussels, by contrast, is stubbornly bureaucratic, opaque and prepared to cut off its nose to spite its face. And that is exactly why Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016.