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    U.K.’s May Set to Reveal Most Details Yet on Brexit Proposals

    Prime Minister is expected to acknowledge Britain will lose some of the privileges it enjoys as an EU member

    Theresa May welcomes president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, to Number 10 Downing Street in London for talks Thursday.
    Theresa May welcomes president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, to Number 10 Downing Street in London for talks Thursday. Photo: Pete MacLaine/Zuma Press
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    LONDON—British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to outline in the greatest detail yet her proposals for Britain’s future trading relationship with the European Union on Friday, seeking to move Brexit negotiations forward without inflaming tensions within her divided cabinet and party.

    Mrs. May, in a long-awaited speech, is expected to say the country will follow the EU rule book in key sectors of the economy in an effort to ease access to the bloc’s market of 450 million people. The country will aim to remain associated with EU agencies regulating some industry sectors like aviation and follow state-aid rules limiting subsidies and tax breaks to companies.

    The speech marks a key moment for Mrs. May, left weakened after she lost her party’s majority in a general election in 2017.

    The British leader has struggled to unite her party and her cabinet over her approach to Brexit negotiations and EU leaders say talks can’t move forward until she gives clarity about her vision for the future relationship with the bloc.

    Mrs. May is expected to acknowledge the U.K. will lose some of the privileges it currently enjoys as an EU member.

    “She’s going to recognize there are things that we can’t have, as we leave the single market and we leave the customs union, and we leave the European Union, but she’s also going to set out the things that she believes and we believe will be right for both us and the European Union,” Chris Grayling, transport secretary, told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Friday.

    He said the government wants to remain part of some EU agencies, like the European Aviation Safety Agency. It is unclear whether the EU would accept this.

    EU officials have repeatedly criticized politicians in London for wanting the benefits of EU membership without following its obligations and Mrs. May’s proposals will probably be seen by some as unacceptable “cherry picking.”

    The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned this week that time was running out for a deal, which he says must be agreed by October for it to be ratified by March 2019, when the U.K. is scheduled to leave.

    If Mr. Barnier and other EU officials react poorly to Mrs. May’s speech, it could reopen divisions within the Conservative Party about the best path forward.

    While some senior figures in her cabinet like Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, have argued the U.K. should pursue a more distant relationship with the EU once it leaves so that it can take advantage of trading opportunities elsewhere, others say the U.K. should pursue close regulatory alignment to minimize economic disruption.

    Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@wsj.com