Parting on good terms

Many EU officials would like to present the Brexit negotiations as a case of one nervous member, weak at the knees, appearing before a menacing and united panel of 27. But that ignores the political and ideological rifts which are already apparent in the EU. Britain’s departure not only necessitates the creation of a new relationship between us and them; it fundamentally shifts the balance in EU politics. As Angela Merkel has been worrying aloud in recent weeks, the northern European countries which have always tended to take a liberal position on economics and trade are going to have a harder job fighting off the protectionist instincts of the south.

Far from the UK turning its back on the outside world, the growing likelihood is that it is the EU which will retreat into its economic shell while Britain’s economy becomes even more open.

Europe’s wonderful diversity became the EU’s biggest problem as it tried to establish a common position for nations that see the world differently.