EU in fantasy land

The Guardian reports:

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, fears the refusal of member states to soften their demands over the size of Britain’s “divorce bill” could lead to a collapse in talks and the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, minutes of a meeting of the European commission reveal.

Barnier has told the commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and other senior officials that the stakes are so high because Berlin and Paris are refusing to pay more to cover the UK’s departure, while those governments who receive the most from EU funds are opposed to any cuts in spending.

So what they are saying is that they are not willing to increase their contributions to the EU, but also unwilling to reduce the spending of the EU, so their solution is that the UK must keep funding the EU (through a divorce bill) despite no longer being a member, or getting any benefits of membership.

This is fantasy land bonkers.