Brexit and State aid – can the WTO fill the gap? Posted on June 22, 2019 by Kelyn Bacon. WTO rules rely on state-to-state enforcement while under EU rules there are remedies available to businesses and individuals.

Figure 1 State aid issues in the UK: selected examples of recent cases. The responsibility for enforcing State aid rules and procedures in the UK will rest, according to Article 14, with UK authorities. To view the blog post please click here . Source: Oxera. In general, the closer the market integration with the EU, the more state aid rules form part of the agreement. In the UK, a number of high-profile cases have come under public scrutiny because of potential state aid issues (see Figure 1). Part 4 of Annex 4 of the Protocol is devoted exclusively to State aid and cooperation in enforcing State aid rules. To ensure that this prohibition is respected and exemptions are applied equally across the European Union, the European Commission is in charge of ensuring that State aid complies with EU rules. Nonetheless, the interpretation and enforcement of State aid law will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice. There is no such mechanism to remove anti-competitive effects under the WTO rules. House of Commons updated briefing report on EU State aid rules and WTO subsidies rules. United Kingdom 06.11.2017 Brexit raises the question of the future of State aid rules in the UK. However, the UK’s position as a member of the WTO, once it leaves the EU, is not without some legal complexity (and we will return to this topic separately). The House of Commons has just published an updated briefing report explaining the differences between the EU State aid rules and the WTO subsidies rules, and describing the current proposals for the post-Brexit State aid regime.

2 Acknowledgement This thesis would not be possible without the help of a wonderful group of supporters. Under EU rules, a business has to repay illegal state aid. Therefore, the Treaty generally prohibits State aid unless it is justified by reasons of general economic development. State aid rules are an important consideration in a broad range of business activities across all EU member states. replicate the EU state aid rules, Free Trade Agreements with South Korea and Canada build upon the less stringent World Trade Organisation commitments on restricting harmful subsidies. A Comparative Analysis between EU State Aid and WTO Subsidies JAEM03 Master Thesis European Business Law 30 higher education credits Supervisor: Dr Marco Claudio Corradi Spring Term: 2017 .