MEPs are set to REJECT May's Brexit vision as impossible without the UK following EU rules

The European Parliament is poised to reject Theresa May's Brexit vision.

A motion about the trade talks warns the EU has binding rules and institutions that countries must stick to.

It says countries outside the EU cannot have 'similar benefits or market access as EU member states' without accepting the rules of the bloc - even if it has similar regulations.

This is a rejection of Mrs May's Brexit vision of managed divergence - where the UK would get access to the EU's markets and could diverge its laws over time.  

The 65 clause motion will be put to a vote of MEPs next week and could still be re-written.

But in its current form it demands Britain accepts a 'binding convergence mechanism' to keep UK and EU law the same.

If this proves unacceptable, the draft says, Britain will only get a more distant 'association agreement'.

This could exclude Britain from a range of agencies Mrs May said last week she wants to keep. 

Senior MEP Guy Verhofstadt also outlined the European Parliament's hopes for a Brexit deal.

He said that MEPs are proposing Britain has an 'association agreement' with Brussels after Brexit.

He said this will consist of 'four pillars' which will cover Britain's  future relationship with the bloc.

These will cover trade and economics, international security, domestic security and thematic cooperation - for example the student exchange scheme Erasmus. 

He told a press conference they are proposing a 'broad, intense and detailed association agreement'.

He said: 'The main proposals of this resolution is to try to find a solution for the future relationship.

'A bridge, I should say, between on the one hand the red lines of the UK government - we know these red lines; for example no free movement, no oversight by the ECJ.

'We have to try to make a bridge between the red lines of the UK government and on the other hand the system of the EU.'

The motion will be put to a vote of MEPs next Wednesday.