UK subsidy control

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This Overview guides practitioners through the UK subsidy control regime and signposts materials across legislation and guidance.

Subsidy control is a core feature of UK public law following the withdrawal from the EU state aid system. The Subsidy Control Act 2022 establishes the domestic framework, supplemented by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and, for Northern Ireland, the Windsor Framework. Public authorities must assess subsidies against the statutory principles in Schedules 1 and 2, observe specific prohibitions (including export - and domestic - content - conditioned aid and unlimited guarantees), and comply with transparency duties and publication requirements.

Practitioners should be able to identify whether proposed support is a subsidy, apply exemptions and special regimes (such as Minimal Financial Assistance, Services of Public Economic Interest assistance and streamlined routes), and structure schemes to mitigate distortion risks. Mandatory and voluntary referrals to the Competition and Markets Authority’s Subsidy Advice Unit may arise for subsidies and schemes of particular interest or interest; the SAU’s reports are advisory but influential. Decisions are challengeable in the Competition Appeal Tribunal on judicial review grounds within a short statutory window, with potential remedies including...

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