How can Brexit be better for Europe? From the UK perspective the whole business is about the sort of economic relationship the country will feel comfortable with. The debate is framed as a balance of positives and negatives: gaining freedom over borders and over trade with non-EU countries, but at the cost of less favourable access to the European market.

From a European perspective, however, the debate has been largely framed in terms of competing minuses. By how much should the UK be punished for leaving? It must not be allowed to “cherry-pick”. How much damage might there be to European exports? There are modest pluses, such as the luring of banking jobs out of London and towards Dublin, Frankfurt or Paris. But, put it this way, the idea of the UK leaving the EU is not generally regarded as a positive for the project. If you watch the response of the audience to Theresa May’s Brexit speech on Tuesday, note that the British clapped enthusiastically but several European ambassadors refused to applaud.

There is, however, another way of looking at it. This involves seeing how Europe might turn this to its advantage. There was something of that in the Prime Minister’s speech but what she says carries no force. What we think does not matter. It is up to them. Within Europe there are a number of thoughtful voices, all sounding rather different than the knee-jerk reactions yesterday.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the “back of the queue” for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned – forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA – because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germany’s top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as “gateway to Europe” for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the Bundesbank—Germany’s central bank—told a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were “equivalent” between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still “miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market”, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEO’s performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterling’s fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

A good place to start is the Ifo Institute, the best known and most prestigious German economic research group. Here’s what its president Clemens Fuest said: “Europe should sign a free trade agreement with Britain that is as comprehensive as possible and that also maintains close economic integration in terms of services. A transitional period of several years during which current trade rules remain applicable should be agreed upon. The debate over alleged cherry-picking has to stop. It is poisoning the atmosphere and is only creating deeper divisions.”

Sensible stuff. But he is still seeing this in terms of minimising the damage. Could there be a more positive view? The best argument I have seen was made back in August in a paper by the Bruegel Institute in Brussels, one of the foremost research groups on the Continent. I have referred to it before but in case you have not come across it, it is here.

The paper has five authors from different European countries, the British one being Sir Paul Tucker, former deputy governor at the Bank of England. This is the nub of its argument:

Theresa May warns EU over 'punitive' Brexit deal

“We propose a new form of collaboration, a continental partnership. The UK will want to have some control over labour mobility, as well as leaving behind the EU’s supranational decision-making. The proposed continental partnership would consist in participating in goods, services, capital mobility and some temporary labour mobility as well as in a new system of inter-governmental decision-making and enforcement of common rules to protect the homogeneity of the deeply integrated market. The UK would have a say on EU policies but ultimate formal authority would remain with the EU. This results in a Europe with an inner circle, the EU, with deep and political integration, and an outer circle with less integration.”

Now I have to acknowledge that this approach has not been warmly received in Brussels, but then you would not expect it to be. All bureaucracies seek to retain their power, and any country leaving the EU reduces that. It also cuts their budget, for the UK has been the second largest net contributor to the EU after Germany. More than one-third of the net contributions to the budget come from the UK. But as a vision it should surely be appealing, because it accepts that the inner core can carry on integrating if it wants to, but also accepts that the outer ring should have some say in how Europe as a whole develops.

This may not work. It may be that there has to be a rupture before things can be put together again. But nothing is forever, and the present model of Europe will inevitably change.

The big strategic issue for Europe must surely be how to bind Russia into the fold, rather than have it as an angry, disruptive neighbour threatening the EU’s eastern flanks. The idea of an outer circle could be a model not just for the UK but also for Russia, however unlikely that appears under its present leadership. Giving Russia a say in EU policies might seem unthinkable, but then to most people a year ago the idea of the UK leaving the EU was unthinkable.