EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has made it clear he thinks the U.K. is jumping the gun in Brexit talks | Thierry Charlier/AFP via Getty Images Brits want to talk post-Brexit trade, but EU turns a deaf ear The publication of a UK position paper on post-Brexit customs arrangements marks a new unity for the government.

LONDON — Welcome to the two-speed Brexit negotiation.

On one side, the EU, which is determined to settle the minutiae of the U.K.’s withdrawal from the bloc, showing every sign of being prepared for this to last as long as it takes. On the other, the U.K., now so keen to give certainty to its restive businesses and industries, that it is has started making formal proposals for its future relationship with the EU — this week on customs arrangements — before the EU is prepared to talk about them.

The bloc responded with a curt statement noting the U.K.’s 14-page customs position paper, but making it very clear that chief negotiator Michel Barnier and the EU27 think the Brits have jumped the gun.

The fact a customs paper was published at all — with accompanying statements from David Davis, the Brexit secretary; Liam Fox, the international trade secretary; and Chancellor Philip Hammond — marks a new-found unity of purpose within the British Cabinet. Despite louder noises from Remain supporters such as former Davis aide James Chapman, who is critical of his former boss (calling Davis lazy and a liar on Twitter) and pushing the formation of a new pro-EU party, the British government is showing signs of unity.

The opposing camps in Prime Minister Theresa May's team can both claim some victory with the government's negotiating position — Hammond has secured his meaningful transition period to smooth Britain's exit from the bloc, Fox has his desire to move ahead with international trade deals sanctioned. Whether that unity can deliver the shift in the EU’s slow and steady approach to talks that the British government is pushing for, remains to be seen.

According to one senior Cabinet figure, speaking to POLITICO on condition of anonymity, the EU’s response to the paper was “no surprise.” The Cabinet doesn’t know whether they will be successful in what has become a mini-campaign to speed up the negotiation, the minister added.

“A lot of people painted the people who have been campaigning for Brexit as stark ideologues, but actually the vast majority are pragmatists" — Conservative MP James Cleverly

More position papers addressing the future relationship with the EU will be published in the coming weeks. By publishing a new position paper on Northern Ireland and the border on Wednesday — heavily informed by Tuesday's customs paper — the Brits want to underline their case that so-called exit issues can't be separated from discussions about future relations between the U.K. and the remaining 27 EU countries.

Since last year's referendum, discord in the U.K. has contrasted sharply with consensus on the Continent, where the remaining 27 EU countries seem largely focused elsewhere. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has embarked on her reelection campaign, while in France the new president, Emmanuel Macron, is working to push his agenda forward amid crumbling poll numbers.

The European Commission insists that Barnier's mandate for the negotiations does not extend beyond its three opening priorities — Britain's so-called divorce bill, the rights of EU citizens in the U.K (and vice versa) and the Northern Irish border. So it seems unlikely the EU will engage on any of the U.K.'s future relationship position papers until after the October European Council summit, at the earliest.

Playing to a domestic audience

The customs paper makes two proposals for the future terms of trade in goods between the U.K. and the EU.

Both scenarios have two things in common. First, they would only come into force after a transition period that replicates almost exactly the terms of the EU customs union, thus avoiding a cliff edge for U.K. business.

Second, under both scenarios the U.K. will have an independent trade policy, allowing Fox to carry on negotiating and, he hopes, eventually signing and implementing free-trade agreements with non-EU countries.

Fox pushed hard in Cabinet discussions for the U.K. to have the ability to work on trade deals as soon as it leaves the EU in 2019, government officials said. However, he will be unable to implement them during a transition period in which the U.K. will maintain, according to the position paper, a “close association” with the EU customs union. That closeness to the status quo was welcomed by the U.K. business lobby, who have been championed by Hammond, along with Business Secretary Greg Clark, in Cabinet discussions this summer.

The compromise should not surprise people, said Conservative MP James Cleverly, a parliamentary private secretary — or ministerial assistant — in the Home Office, who campaigned for Brexit.

“A lot of people painted the people who have been campaigning for Brexit as stark ideologues, but actually the vast majority are pragmatists. We want to leave the EU because on the whole it has more disadvantages than advantages. But we are not trying to smash the shop up,” he said.

“We are not trying to do it in a way that will ultimately be damaging. I am happy we are being realistic and that we are giving business certainty," he said.

The proposals have gone down well among one of the key factions in Theresa May’s party: Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs.

Suella Fernandes, chairman of the European Research Group, which coordinates pro-Brexit Tory backbenchers, welcomed the paper.

“[It] makes it crystal clear that the government is committed to leaving the EU customs union and single market,” she said. “A time-limited implementation period during which the U.K. rises up to its new free-trade agreements is also welcome so that U.K. businesses are supported in adapting to new arrangements. The opportunity for the U.K. to be a champion of global free trade, boost investment, jobs and prosperity is exciting and one we should all seize.”

To some of course, that stance translates as having cake and eating it.

“As Michel Barnier has said on several occasions, ‘frictionless trade’ is not possible outside the single market and customs union,” the EU’s statement said, referring to its chief Brexit negotiator.

Business impatience with Brussels

Frustration with the EU's reluctance to address what it classifies as "future relationship issues" is beginning to filter through to the business lobby. Businesses plan to lobby the Commission to speed up talks in the hope of an early transition deal that would provide certainty in forward planning.

Having previously felt ignored in the Brexit discussion, since the general election and the ejection of Theresa May’s gatekeeper chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, business and industry voices are being heard more readily, one senior business figure said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Business and the Institute of Directors broadly welcomed the government’s detailed customs paper Tuesday. Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI, said the government’s aims were “the right ones” and turned the spotlight onto the EU.

“Much will rest on the negotiation, and — as the paper acknowledges — EU customs systems will need to adapt too. There is clear interest on both sides in avoiding a cliff-edge and keeping trade flowing, not just at Dover, but Rotterdam, Calais and Antwerp too,” he said.

Allie Renison, the IoD’s head of EU and trade policy, said that while there was an onus on the U.K. to get its house in order on withdrawal matters, the EU could also do more to hasten progress.

The EU is likely to look skeptically upon the U.K.’s proposal to negotiate and even sign external trade deals during a transition period.

“The government still needs to work to ensure sufficient progress is made on citizens' rights and any financial settlement, and we are hopeful that the EU will treat an interim deal on trade with the same sense of urgency,” she said.

Fears of U.K. 'undercutting'

At the moment, that seems a faint hope. The EU is likely to look skeptically upon the U.K.’s proposal to negotiate and even sign external trade deals during a transition period. Plus, any customs deal would eventually have to be ratified by all member countries, adding a further barrier.

Karel de Gucht, a former EU commissioner for trade, spoke for many at the Commission when he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that while a transition is in the “mutual interest” of both parties, the U.K’s proposals for Liam Fox to be negotiating bilateral deals with the U.S., China and others while inside the security of a European customs union were “very problematic.”

“Technically you could do it … but politically it’s very difficult," he said. "We would keep Great Britain warm and in the meantime Great Britain would be undercutting us."

Ultimately, customs is only one aspect of a broader negotiation, and agreement on a transition would depend on the U.K. agreeing to EU single market rules and ECJ rulings throughout, de Gucht said.

For now, the Brits are focused on persuading de Gucht's former colleagues to start that discussion.

David M. Herszenhorn contributed reporting.