Michel Barnier has warned Britain must stick closely to Brussels’s standards on tax, state aid and the environment to secure a trade deal with the European Union, a day after Boris Johnson said there would be “no alignment” between British and EU rules after Brexit.

Mr Barnier also said it will be “immensely challenging” to finish a EU-UK trade deal by the deadline of the end of next year, which Boris Johnson has vowed not to extend.

“We will keep our strategic interests in mind. We know that competing on social and environmental standards – rather than on skills, innovation, and quality – leads only to a race to the bottom that puts workers, consumers, and the planet on the losing side,” Mr Barnier said.

“Thus, any free-trade agreement must provide for a level playing field on standards, state aid, and tax matters,” he added in a sign of enduring EU anxiety that the UK will undercut the bloc’s rules to gain a competitive advantage after Brexit.

The House of Commons voted in favour of the Withdrawal Act Bill on Friday. After the vote, Mr Johnson said it “paves the path for a new agreement on our future relationship with our European neighbours based on an ambitious free-trade agreement, with no alignment … on EU rules, but instead control of our own laws and close and friendly relations”.