I agree and there is precedent for the way the EU conducts negotiations. I would recommend an excellent book by Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek Finance Minister, called Adults in the Rooms. It is a fascinating read. The EU were not interested in a workable solution to sort out Greece's huge debts, only its capitulation. Back in May Varoufakis said it was a waste of time for the UK to negotiate with the EU. It looks like he was right. Here is an article from him detailing the EU tactics.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...at-theresa-may
You can already see the same tactics being used by the EU in the talks with Britain.