On 23 August 2018, the UK government published a  notice, committing the UK to a continued application of state aid rules even in the event of no deal being agreed with the EU on the UK’s withdrawal. The notice explains how EU state aid rules would be transposed into UK domestic legislation. The Competition and Markets Authority will take the role of enforcement and supervision for the whole UK and the rules will apply to all sectors and all businesses with operations in the UK – whether UK, EU or third country based. UK businesses and EU businesses with operations in the UK will still be able to receive state aid from UK public authorities in accordance with the UK state aid rules.

This notice is one of a first round of 25 technical notices advising businesses and citizens on how to mitigate and plan the consequences if the UK and the EU do not reach a deal by Brexit day. These “no-deal” notices are a first part of 80 technical notices to be expected in the coming weeks and cover  a broad range of areas.