Boris Johnson Delays Publishing U.K.’s Post-Brexit State Aid Rules

(Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson’s government has delayed publishing its rules for when it would be able to intervene to help businesses after a disagreement over what those rules should be.

According to a person familiar with the plans, speaking on condition of anonymity, changes to state aid rules were going to be published Tuesday. That has now been held back.

The precise nature of the disagreement isn’t clear, but for months there has been an argument within government on the issue. The Treasury has argued that the European Union’s rules should be copied into British law, to give businesses continuity, and to promote competition. EU rules aim to prevent governments from distorting markets by helping particular companies.

On the other side of the argument are ministers who want the government to be able to help businesses struggling in the wake of a no-deal Brexit. Without the constraints of the EU’s rule, the government would be able to back national champions, potentially undercutting rival European firms.

Talks about Johnson’s Brexit plan, announced last week, are due to continue Tuesday in Brussels. The U.K. side has given more legal detail about how its plan would work, but EU leaders are still demanding that Britain drop its plan to introduce a customs border on the island of Ireland. There’s an informal deadline for the talks of the end of this week. Johnson yesterday called counterparts in what Brexit minister James Duddridge told Parliament was an attempt to “whip up enthusiasm for the deal and avoid no-deal.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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