Ideology and policy design after Brexit: explaining the UK subsidy regime

Although states rarely regulate their own domestic subsidies, the UK Government after Brexit set up a UK-wide subsidy control regime. In force from early 2023, the UK Subsidy Control Act replaced the EU state aid rules that had been revoked by the UK Government in late 2020. While the obligation to address the regulation of subsidies was in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK Government chose to go beyond these international obligations. This article explains why. It argues that the UK Government’s decision was ideological, that is, it was driven by political ideas about sovereignty and unionism, ideas associated with a form of contemporary conservatism in the UK. This finding is significant as it sheds light on the importance of ideology in UK post-Brexit policy design, whilst also indicating how trade agreements might prompt the emergence of domestic subsidy control regimes.