The Article 50 secession treaty must be accompanied by a Political Declaration outlining the framework for the future relationship between the UK and EU. Drafting the Political Declaration is now an urgent necessity. The UK has one chance - preferably in its just announced White Paper and before the June European Council - to contribute to its drafting. Mrs May’s efforts to offer a serious prospectus for the future have been unconvincing, lacking detail especially on governance.
There are essentially three parts to the future relationship: economic partnership; security partnership; and governance. All three can only be accommodated inside an association agreement. The essence of the association agreement is a rules-based market orientated deal - not the customs union. Governance of the association agreement must be by dynamic joint EU-UK institutions.