Footloose and Fancy Free? State Aid after Brexit
| Published date | 01 January 2018 |
| Pages | 155-160 |
| Author | |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2018.0468 |
| Date | 01 January 2018 |
There is a perception in certain quarters that European Union (“EU”) state aid law acts as a barrier to the UK's ability to pursue an effective industrial policy. Indeed, while the level of state aid provided by the UK is low,
This article evaluates to what extent, if any, Brexit could provide the UK with greater autonomy to grant state aid. Section A provides a brief overview of the current EU state aid regime. Section B examines possible UK state aid arrangements after Brexit. Section C discusses state aid in the context of a no-deal “hard” Brexit and compares the state aid law of the World Trade Organisation (“WTO”) with that of the EU. Section D evaluates the extent to which the law of the WTO would act as a barrier to the UK's ability to grant subsidies to its domestic industry. Section E concludes.
The EU state aid regime is established in Articles 107 to 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”).
While the EU state aid regime would appear to prohibit all types of state aid, it contains a number of exceptions. Under Article 107(2) TFEU, for example, certain types of state aid are deemed to be compatible with the internal market. These include,
The Commission exercises surveillance and supervisory control over state aid and states must notify it of any plans to implement new or alter existing state aid.
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