If the EU had to pick a theme song for Phase 2 of the Brexit talks, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” could be the leading contender.

There are roughly 170 countries in the world that are not members of the European Union. And thanks to Brexit, on March 29, 2019, the United Kingdom becomes just one of that pack.

Looking ahead to discussions about the future relationship with the U.K., senior EU officials and diplomats are warning that the bloc has numerous partnerships, including trade agreements, with many countries, and Brussels has no intention of diminishing those arrangements by offering London a sweeter package.

That’s especially true, officials said, when it comes to Norway and Switzerland — the two big partners that pay into the EU budget to be part of its single market.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has stated repeatedly that Britain will leave the single market and customs union. As a result, the view in Brussels is that Britain cannot expect or get a closer, deeper or more special relationship than the EU has with Switzerland and Norway.

At the same time, EU officials are also stressing that “most-favored nation” (MFN) provisions in existing trade agreements, and in World Trade Organization rules, will preclude Brussels from offering the U.K. special benefits that it does not offer to other partners. No one in Brussels seems inclined to reopen trade talks on numerous fronts to accommodate some special post-Brexit arrangement with the British.

“We will have to calibrate our approach … we cannot upset relations with other third countries,” a senior EU official said. “If we were to give the U.K. a very lopsided deal, then the other partners with whom we have been engaging, and with whom we have entered into balanced agreements, would of course come back and would question those agreements.

“On top of that, there’s also a more technical point, in some of these agreements there are actually specific MFN clauses, that is clauses saying if you give more to others you will have to come back to us and give the same,” the official said. “Also for this reason, we need to maintain this balance of rights and obligations.”

Calibrate. Balance of rights and obligations. These are part of the talking points that have been distributed to diplomats across Brussels, in an effort to frame briefings for reporters ahead of this week’s European Council summit, and also to maintain unity among the EU27 in Phase 2 of the Brexit talks.

It is a long way from the U.K. government’s favored phrase — a “deep and special partnership.”

“There has to be from the EU side, a balance of rights obligations,” a senior EU diplomat said. “The rights and obligations of the Canada deal do not compete with the rights of the Norway deal.”

The diplomat noted that the EU response was being driven by the U.K.’s intention to leave the single market and a wish not to create problems with other trading partners.

“The European Council, I think, will want to express its wish to calibrate its approach regarding cooperation in light of the British position, including the balance of rights and obligations,” the diplomat said. “The question of maintaining a level playing field is very important … something that doesn’t distort, imbalance or upset relations with other third countries, including both within the European space and outside the European space.”

The diplomat added, “There is a thing called most favored nation clause, which in any event is going to impose constraints in trying to have a close relationship with the EU on one hand, and doing trade deals around the world on the other.”

Put simply, the U.K. opted for a breakup and the EU is going to put loyal friends before its ex.

Or as Gotye, the Belgian-born musician, sings it: “You didn’t have to cut me off … Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.”