When the UK left the transition period it also left behind the EU’s State aid rules.  The Government is now consulting until 31 March on the subsidy control system that should replace State aid. 

This is a massive deregulatory change.  It is also a unique opportunity for the UK to create a flexible, light-touch regime to support R&D, industrial and regional development policies - dramatically freeing up the way that the Government interacts with business.  

The challenge is to capture these benefits whilst also ensuring the Union is not harmed by subsidy races between the nations and regions; providing investors with legal certainty; and to comply with the complex obligations the UK has entered into with the EU in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol.  

James Webber and Barney Reynolds looked at where we are now and discussed how the UK should approach subsidy control and what opportunities could be created for economic growth from a nimbler interaction with Government support.