Given the seemingly highly technical nature of the current negotiations, members of the public who have normal lives to lead might be forgiven for thinking that the same issues are still being debated after more than four years. They might be forgiven for thinking this as much of the media, including the BBC, are happy simply to parrot the official line coming from Brussels: that this is just about compromise, both sides making necessary adjustments, and the EU simply acting in a normal and rational way.
Rational it may be. Normal it is not. The EU is being rational in ruthlessly pursuing its own interests. But it is entirely abnormal to try to impose on the UK restraints that are incompatible with political autonomy.
Pro-EU voices in Britain claim that the EU is simply trying to protect itself by requiring the UK to accept normal standards in order to have the benefits of trading with the famous ‘single market’.
The first obvious objection is that the EU arguably benefits from our ‘single market’ more than we do from theirs: if anyone needs protecting from unfair trading practices, which are bound into the EU monetary system, it is us.
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