Surrounding economies 2024 – 32 x 31 x 8cm, paper, sheet plastic, photograph
Deregulated SEZs are another ploy to transfer public wealth to private hands in what is termed as ‘localised freedoms’ by neoliberals. By removing big govt interventionism and handing govt powers to corporations in SEZs, an unlevel playing field is created, companies are trusted to ‘self-regulate’ while enjoying 10-year tax breaks and 25-year licenses embedded with secondary legislation, meaning zero Parliamentary or public scrutiny.
99% of the British public have no idea what a Special Economic Zone is. An SEZ is a designated region that has economic regulations separate from the host country, free zones are primarily designed to attract foreign economic investment.
The EU has 82 SEZs, but the difference between EU SEZs and UK SEZs comes down to the legal and illegal distribution of State aid. State aid is public money and it’s allocation in the EU is strictly regulated to prevent corporations from chasing public money in free zones. The EU rules that it is illegal for govts of member states to give this money to companies for the pursuit of profits without contributing anything back to local infrastructure.