Response to the UK Government's Proposed Reforms to the UK Competition Regime

The Committee supports the Government’s stated objective of promoting effective competition and supporting economic growth and investment in the UK, as well as the Competition and Markets Authority’s (“CMA”) commitment to the “4Ps”– pace, predictability, proportionality and process. Many of the proposed changes are beneficial to the regime.

However, the Government’s headline changes to CMA decision-making in complex mergers and market investigations raise serious concerns around whether the UK regime will continue to produce objective, politically independent, evidence-based decision-making with appropriate checks and balances.

In addition, we have concerns in relation to the proposed change to the legal test for market reviews from an “adverse effect on competition” to an “adverse effect on consumers”, the potential revisions to the jurisdictional thresholds for mergers and the proposed introduction of ministerial approval for CMA guidance.