I don't think this is right. The EU know that the PM doesn't command her ERG backbenchers, and that her negotiating position can be changed by them, as we saw yesterday. It also looks like there is a majority for Brexit under any circumstances.
So if I were an EU negotiator there isn't much point in trying to engage with the White Paper proposals, which in any case go against EU red lines, as I don't in fact know whether the content of the White Paper has a majority.
Therefore as well as warning that London will quite possibly reject any deal, the EU would be preparing for a no-deal, and offering only the Withdrawal Agreement with Northern Ireland backstop. I cannot see where there is any incentive to engage otherwise.
