The White Paper lays out the government’s 12 “principles” including migration control and “taking control of our own laws”.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said the UK’s “best days are still to come”, outside the EU.
Labour said the document “says nothing” and had been produced too late for “meaningful” scrutiny.
The White Paper’s publication comes after pressure from MPs across the House of Commons.
It sets out the themes of the government’s goals for its negotiations with the EU, as announced by Prime Minister Theresa May last month.
These include withdrawing from the EU single market and customs union and negotiating a new free trade agreement.
It also says reaching an early deal on the rights of EU nationals in the UK and British expats in Europe has “not proven possible”, saying the government wants to secure an agreement with European countries “at the earliest opportunity” during the formal talks.
And it says the government will “keep our positions closely held and will need at times to be careful about the commentary we make public”, with MPs offered a vote on the final deal.