Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the compliance of the State Aid (Revocations and Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 under powers conferred by section 8(1) and section 8C(1) and paragraph 21 of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, with the Government policy as set out in the White Paper on Legislating for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union that the Act will not aim to make major changes in policy or to establish new legal frameworks in the UK beyond those that are necessary to ensure the law continues to function properly from day one.

The State Aid (Revocations and Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 are being made using the powers in the European Union (Withdrawal Act) 2018 (as amended). These powers include those intended to address failures of retained EU law to operate effectively or other deficiencies arising from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

At the end of the transition period, the EU law on state aid which would otherwise be retained by the Withdrawal Act would contain fundamental deficiencies which would make it inoperable in the UK. In accordance with the requirements of the Withdrawal Act, the instrument is doing no more than is appropriate to address those deficiencies.