Britain's trade negotiator warned on Monday that his government would not accept EU supervision of its economy in exchange for close trade ties.
Senior diplomat David Frost told academics in Brussels that London intended to set its own laws after Brexit instead of following EU-imposed "level playing field" rules.
"It isn't a simple negotiating position that might move under pressure, it is the point of the whole project," Mr Frost said.
His speech at the Free University of Brussels took place as EU member states were drawing up a mandate for their own negotiator, Michel Barnier.
Some countries, particularly France, are seeking a deal in which Britain would have to sign up to EU-supervised regulation in exchange for privileged access to the European single market.
But Mr Frost, adding to the position championed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said London wanted a typical trade deal of the kind Brussels signed with Canada.
"It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us; to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has," he said.
"So to think that we might accept EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing."
Mr Frost also said that the UK did not intend to extend the 11-month transition beyond the end of 2020.
“At that point we recover our political and economic independence in full," he said. "Why would we want to postpone it?
“In short, we only want what other independent countries have."
But Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Foreign Minister, gave a scathing assessment of the discussions on Sunday.
Mr Le Drian said his country and Britain would “rip each other part” over trade talks.
"I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart," he said at a Munich security conference.
"But that is part of negotiations. Everyone will defend their own interests."
