Former British PM David Cameron walks with the U.K.'s former ambassador to the EU Ivan Rogers, in 2016 | Thierry Charles/AFP via Getty Images BREXIT FILES INSIGHT British ‘exceptionalism’ drove Brexit, but EU media aren’t buying it A survey of EU media coverage since the referendum has reflected a lack of concern about the impact of Brexit on the Continent.

The United Kingdom's approach to the European project has from the start been colored by a belief in a kind of chauvinistic otherness — we were happy to be part of the club, but only on the condition we could have a special status within it.

Whether this stems from an island psyche, an imperial history, repelling World War II occupation or something else is debatable, but with respect to European integration, successive prime ministers have pursued a policy of "British exceptionalism" — think Margaret Thatcher's budget rebate.

The policy was articulated last year in a lecture by the U.K.'s former EU Ambassador Ivan Rogers, in which he described David Cameron's ill-fated efforts to strike a deal with the EU27 that would persuade voters to back Remain in the referendum. "Throughout all his years in office, [Cameron] was in defending and enhancing British exceptionalism, and in carving out a permanent niche, within the market project, but outside the monetary, banking, fiscal and political union. He believed strongly that this was in the U.K.’s best interests," said Rogers.

A more extreme form of this belief in Britain's special place on the edge of Europe drove both the Brexiteers' case in the referendum campaign and arguably their approach to the negotiations since. Europe needs the U.K. so much and fears the loss of its market so keenly, the argument goes, that it will allow Britain to slice and dice the benefits of the EU while shedding itself of the responsibilities.

Now it is on the way out, British exceptionalism seems to reside only in Brexiteers' heads.

In short, the EU will allow Britain to cherry pick.

The fact that things haven't turned out that way in the Brexit talks so far is often blamed by Brexiteers on ideological federalists in Brussels. But a study of Brexit coverage by media organizations within the EU27 suggests a different explanation.

The preliminary analysis, by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, covered the period September 2017 to February 2018, and focused on France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Ireland. For each country the researchers trawled all Brexit coverage across five mainstream media sources — a total sample of 3,516 items.

One striking finding is that only one in 10 pieces covered Brexit from the perspective of national self-interest. And excluding Ireland, 68 percent of news items reflected on the British situation with just 19 percent discussing the implications for the EU. That's surprising because journalists normally spend their time working out how to make a story relevant to their readership — sometimes twisting it out of shape in the process.

Overall, the results seem to indicate not a lack of interest in Brexit, but a lack of anxiety about the national and EU-wide implications of Britain's departure. That has meant EU politicians are not feeling a clamor from their voters to cut Britain a break in order to protect lucrative markets beyond the white cliffs of Dover.

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.

This insight is from POLITICO's Brexit Files newsletter, a daily afternoon digest of the best coverage and analysis of Britain’s decision to leave the EU available to Brexit Pro subscribers. Sign up here.