The government is outlining its strategy for post-Brexit trade talks, as it prepares for formal negotiations with the EU to begin.
Unveiling the government’s priorities in the Commons, Michael Gove said the UK’s aim was to secure a “comprehensive free trade agreement”.
But he warned that the UK would not accept any alignment with EU laws – as the EU is demanding.
And he added: “We will not trade away our sovereignty.”
Brussels has already set out what it wants from the talks – tariff-free trade but keeping EU rules on state aid, workers rights and other issues.
The plan received a cool reception from No 10, with the PM saying he is prepared to walk away without a deal.
The UK officially left the EU at the end of January, but is continuing to abide by many EU rules while talks on a permanent trading relationship take place.
Boris Johnson has pledged to get a deal with the EU by the end of the so-called transition period – 31 December 2020 – and has said he is not prepared to extend that deadline.
But critics say leaving without an agreement and going to World Trade Organisation rules – the terms countries use to set tariffs (taxes) on goods when they do not have free-trade deals – could damage the economy.
Negotiations are due to start in Brussels on 2 March.
‘Smooth process’
The UK’s team will be led by Mr Johnson’s Europe adviser David Frost. The chief negotiator of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, Michel Barnier, will head up the EU’s delegation.
Both Mr Frost and the prime minister have said in recent weeks they want to seek a Canada-style agreement with zero tariffs from the EU.
Mr Barnier has rejected such a deal, saying the UK is not like Canada, and its geographical proximity would threaten competition between EU states.
The UK strategy was agreed on Monday by the EU Exit Strategy (XS) committee, which includes new Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, senior cabinet minister Michael Gove and new Attorney General Suella Braverman.
All members of the committee supported Brexit during the 2016 referendum.
Following Monday’s meeting, the prime minister’s spokesman said agreeing the UK’s plan was a “very smooth process”.
‘Demanding negotiations’
The EU’s 46-page negotiating document, published on Monday, said the “envisaged agreement should uphold common high standards and corresponding high standards over time with Union standards as a reference point”.
It said it should apply “in the areas of state aid, competition, state-owned enterprises, social and employment standards, environmental standards, climate change, relevant tax matters and other regulatory measures and practices in these areas”.
After the document was released, Mr Barnier warned the EU would not agree a deal “at any price”, saying there would be “complex, demanding negotiations” over a limited period of time.
He added: “A short time, as chosen by the British government, not by us. In a very brief period, you can’t do everything. We will do as much as we can under pressure of time.”
BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming said the EU document was “the roadmap for all the rows we’re going to have over the next few months”.
Speaking to the Today programme, former International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said he didn’t think the UK and EU negotiating positions “are a million miles apart”.
He said it would be “unacceptable” for the UK to accept dynamic alignment – that would mean if the EU changed its rules in the future, the UK would automatically make the same changes.
Instead, Mr Fox said he wanted to see non-regression clauses where neither side would be able to dilute standards from their current point.
