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 opportunities to reform state aid following the UK’s departure from the EU.

The Government is aware that the EU negotiating mandate explicitly refers to state aid in the context of any future trade agreement between the EU and UK. This future relationship is subject to negotiation.

While the Government cannot speculate on outcomes at this stage, any future regime will be based on the principles of open and fair markets. As my Right Hon Friend the Prime Minister said in Florence the Government believes “it would be a serious mistake to try to beat other countries’ industries by unfairly subsidising one’s own”.