If the UK presents a unilateral list of proposals for new EU rules, the other 26 EU member states could be encouraged to engage in brinkmanship of their own. The likely result – 27 disparate sets of demands – could lead to the serial re-opening of old compromises on issues that have little relevance to the urgent threats that the EU now faces.
除了破坏与欧盟的关系，英国的行为还有可能破坏补救欧洲经济、社会和身份危机的努力。如果英国抛出新欧盟规则的单方面方案清单，其他26个欧盟成员国也有可能采取各自的边缘政策。其结果——27组不相干的要求——可能导致与欧盟当前面临的迫切问题毫无关系的问题的旧妥协卷土重来。