I posted yesterday an item that touched on what has been referred to as British exceptionalism, the feeling that we are somehow unique and deserve special treatment. Politico have an item (HERE) about the same thing, but looked at from a European perspective and specifically about Brexit.
Reuters have surveyed media coverage of Brexit across Europe in eight major countries including France, Germany and Italy. They looked at 3516 articles and found the great majority (68%) looked at Brexit's impact on the UK and only 19% were concerned about the economic impact of it on their own country. In other words these countries aren't worried about Brexit. This is, according to Politico, why national governments in the EU are not facing pressure to make concessions to us.
The feeling in the EU is that, because of this exceptionalism, we have been demanding opt outs and concessions for almost our entire time as a member, . And perhaps out of a desire to keep us in, they gave in to our demands. But now we're leaving what is the incentive? As the article says:
"The EU tolerated Britain’s inflated self-belief while it was a member, but now that it is on the way out, British exceptionalism seems to reside only in Brexiteers’ heads. The Brexit talks will come down to plain old national interest — and Britain is outnumbered".
