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Scientific Blog Post Year : 2021

At the gates of the European Union: British freeports and associated State aid issues

Philippe Corruble

Abstract

Deploying its vision of "Global Britain" in the port sector, the British government plans to create some free ports. In addition to an adapted customs regime, these ports and their surroundings will come with significant tax and social benefits. In addition to attracting maritime transport or port logistics companies to these ports, the idea is, through a regulatory differential with the EU, to attract companies, whatever their activity, including GAFAs. This way, and by means of free trade agreements signed with foreign States, particularly in Asia, the British government intends to create logistics, industrial and service hubs at the gates of the EU. Having recovered its sovereignty in competition law and notably State aid, the United Kingdom could create the regulatory environment favorable to its project. Indeed, European State aid rules do not, for the moment, apply to third countries. It is doubtful that the Agreement on Trade and Cooperation signed by the UK and the EU on December 24 th , 2020 would resolve "level playing field" issues in this domain. However, the European Commission and the Member States have been well aware, in recent months, of the distortion of competition created by foreign public subsidies. China and its State Owned Enterprises are of course concerned at first, receiving huge public support while benefiting from access to the European market. A White Paper was adopted in June 2020 on this subject and the question remains open whether its provisions could be effectively applied to the specific threat posed by the creation of the "British freeports". Tensions are expected between British and European Authorities with this regard, due to the strategic importance of this sector. This paper is an update from an article published in Droit Maritime Français, n° 831 in January 2021, with the permission of the editor.
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Dates and versions

hal-03414255 , version 1 (04-11-2021)

Identifiers

  • HAL Id : hal-03414255 , version 1

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Philippe Corruble. At the gates of the European Union: British freeports and associated State aid issues. 2021, Disponible sur https://competition-forum.com/at-the-gates-of-the-european-union-british-freeports-and-associated-state-aid-issues/. ⟨hal-03414255⟩
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