After the election, the real test: Brexit

THE next parliament will be dominated by Brexit. Formal negotiations are due to start in Brussels in the week of June 19th. Besides their sheer complexity, there are three big reasons why they are so daunting. The European Union is better prepared than the British; the gap between the two sides is widening; and the clock is ticking to March 2019, when Brexit is due to happen.

Preparations are clear in Brussels. The European Commission has a Brexit team, led by Michel Barnier, working under a negotiating mandate from the 27 other EU governments. The key Article 50 council working group, chaired by Didier Seeuws, is meeting twice a week. Officials liken the process to accession negotiations in reverse. That is not reassuring for Britain: as Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, notes, accession talks consist more of take-it-or-leave-it offers than real negotiations. And so far the EU 27 have proved both united and hardline.

In contrast, Britain...