Guidance

Complying with the UK’s international obligations on subsidy control: guidance for public authorities

Guidance for public authorities explaining the World Trade Organization rules on subsidies, the Windsor Framework, the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement and other international commitments.

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The purpose of this guidance is to explain the UK’s international commitments on subsidy control. All public authorities should read this guidance and assure themselves they understand the UK’s commitments and comply with their obligations in relation to the award of subsidies.

The guidance on the UK’s international subsidy control commitments

This guidance covers the World Trade Organization (WTO) subsidy rules, and subsidy related commitments contained within the UK’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) including the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

The vast majority of subsidies awarded in the UK are unlikely to raise concerns under our international commitments. The risk of challenge is likely to be small apart from subsidies to sensitive sectors operating at scale on international markets. This guidance is therefore most relevant to public authorities awarding these kinds of subsidies.

Guidance on the scope and application of Article 10 of the Windsor Framework

The UK government and the European Commission have reached a common understanding on the scope and application of Article 10(1) of the Windsor Framework and issued a joint declaration setting out the agreed position. It is intended to give subsidy granters and beneficiaries clarity and confidence that the vast majority of UK measures will be subject to the UK’s domestic subsidy regime.

It explains how to apply the joint declaration in practice. It will give public authorities and enterprises receiving subsidies greater confidence about the limited circumstances in which Article 10(1) applies and how to manage this.

Published 31 December 2020
Last updated 9 June 2023 + show all updates
  1. Guidance on the UK’s international subsidy control commitments updated to reflect the commencement of the Subsidy Control Act, and new guidance published on Article 10 of the Windsor Framework.

  2. Guidance updated to include further detail on the provisions of the Subsidy Chapter of the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), including updated references to the Article numbers of the TCA as adopted.

  3. First published.