UK Edition
Theresa May has been accused of breaking her promises after unveiling a Brexit white paper which will leave Britain subject to the rulings of European courts and give EU workers the right to visa-free travel for "temporary" employment.
The 98-page document states that businesses that provide services will be able to "move their talented people" to and fro across the Channel.
The document also states that disputes over trade should be "referred to the European Court of Justice for interpretation" in certain circumstances - a move that is likely to anger Brexiteers.
It also specifies that Mrs May's customs solution, known as a facilitated customs arrangement (FCA) will have a "phased" implementation, which Whitehall sources have said will not be complete until mid-2022, two years after the end of transition.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of a 60-strong group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said: "The overall consequence is that we will be a rule taker, de facto subject to the European Court of Justice and it's hard to believe that there is even a tinge of pink left in Mrs May's red line on this.
"It is hard to see that any of this meets the promises Mrs May made in her earlier speeches. We have not known such vassalage to the continent since King John paid homage to the King of France [in 1200].
"The wording on migration means nothing. They have climbed down on everything else. People tend to behave in a consistent way. They are keeping the option of free movement by another name open."
He added: "Taken as a whole, this recreates many of the worst aspects of the EU the British people voted to leave. This does not respect the referendum result."
The publication of the white paper was marred by further controversy after it emerged that MPs had not been given copies of the report. The Commons had to be suspended while it was handed out to MPs so they could question Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, about his plans.
The long-awaited white paper was agreed at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat, last Friday but divided the Cabinet and led to the resignations of David Davis as Brexit secretary and Boris Johnson as foreign secretary.
It is being presented to Parliament by Dominic Raab, the new Brexit Secretary, who replaced Mr Davis on Monday.
Tory Brexiteers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the European Research Group of Conservative backbench Eurosceptics, have already said they will vote against the plan, leaving Mrs May reliant on Labour rebels if she wants to get the backing of Parliament for it.
The key proposals in the document are:
Visa-free travel for temporary workers
The white paper appears to take Britain a step closer to free movement of labour, as it promises visa-free travel for EU workers who have temporary jobs.
It does not, however, define what constitutes "temporary" or what kind of jobs, giving hope to farmers that they will still be able to employ seasonal workers to pick crops.
The document states: "The UK's future economic partnership should provide reciprocal arrangements, consistent with the ending of free movement, that:
- Support businesses to provide services and to move their talented people
- Allow citizens to travel freely, without a visa, for tourism and temporary business activity
- Facilitate mobility for students and young people, enabling them to continue to benefit from world leading universities and the cultural experiences the UK and the EU have to offer
- Are as streamlined as possible to ensure smooth passage for legitimate travel while strengthening the security of the UK's borders and
- Provide for other defined mobility provisions, including arrangements to ensure that UK citizens living in the EU, in future, continue to benefit from their pension entitlements and associated healthcare."
The document says the arrangements will not affect the common travel area that already exists between the UK and Ireland.
However, it appears to leave open the possibility that EU citizens will be treated differently from citizens of other countries after Brexit, which the Government had said would not be the case.
Role of the European Court of Justice
The white paper says that the direct jurisdiction of the ECJ will end after Brexit, but it will still have influence well beyond Britain's withdrawal from the EU.
The document says: "Where the UK and the EU had agreed to retain a common rulebook, it is possible that a dispute could relate to whether these rules had been interpreted correctly.
"The UK recognises that only the CJEU (ECJ) can bind the EU on the interpretation of EU law, and therefore in these instances, there should be the option for a referral to the CJEU for an interpretation...
"The CJEU would only have a role in relation to the interpretation of those EU rules to which the UK had agreed to adhere as a matter of international law."
Brexiteers have already claimed this would leave Britain as a "vassal state" of the EU.
Trade and customs arrangements
A facilitated customs arrangement will be put in place which allows for the UK to set its own tariffs but which will also involve Britain collecting EU tariffs on some goods on behalf of the EU.
British companies would then be able to claim a rebate on those tariffs if they could later prove that the goods had not left the UK.
The paper states that companies bringing goods into the UK would be legally obliged to state at the port of entry the final destination of their goods and paying the appropriate tariff there and then. The Government believes this would apply to 96 per cent of trade.
However, goods that might end up in the EU - after being processed in the UK - would have to pay an EU tariff at the border and claim a rebate if the goods stayed in Britain.
The technology for this is not yet in place, and officials believe it will take 18 months after the end of the transition period to have this system fully up and running, meaning the FCA would not be fully implemented until mid-2022.
Because of this, the white paper talks about a phased implementation of the FCA.