Competition / Antitrust Law
| Topic | Transition period | After transition period (from 1 January 2021) |
|---|
| Merger control | "One-stop shop" principle of EU merger control: Under the EC Merger Regulation (ECMR), M&A transactions with "Community dimension" (with reference to the British part of the transaction) must (continue to) be notified to the European Commission alone. | The European Commission will still be competent for ongoing merger control proceedings if they were notified with the Commission before the transition period expires (Art. 92 (1), 3c Withdrawal Agreement). New transactions: No "one-stop-shop" principle for the British part of the transaction if it was not notified with the European Commission before the transition period expired. Parallel notification to the European Commission and the British CMA, where appropriate. |
| Competition / antitrust law-related administrative fine proceedings | Competition/antitrust law-related administrative fine proceedings initiated by the European Commission (continue to) relieve the competition authorities of the Member States of their competence with regard to that case. The European Commission monitors all commitments given and remedies imposed on the basis of decisions. | The European Commission will still be competent for ongoing competition/antitrust law-related administrative fine proceedings if they were notified with the Commission before the end of the transition period (Art. 92 (1), 3b Withdrawal Agreement). Additional administrative fine proceedings may be brought by the British CMA for new competition/antitrust law-related administrative fine proceedings. No "offsetting of fines" between European Commission and CMA. Unless otherwise agreed the European Commission continues to be competent to monitor all commitments given and remedies imposed on the basis of decisions before the end of the transition period (Art. 95 Withdrawal Agreement). |
| Compensation under competition / antitrust law | English courts (in particular, the Competition Appeal Tribunal and High Court) are a preferred venue for follow-on actions for damages under competition/antitrust law. The administrative fine decisions rendered by the European Commission have binding effect on such actions. | Binding effect at least for future decisions of the European Commission no longer applicable. The binding effect and competence of the British courts will presumably be retained for decisions made before expiry of the transition period and for ongoing damages proceedings. |
| Cartel ban / corporate cooperation | The permissibility of cooperation (horizontally and vertically) between companies under competition/antitrust law usually depends essentially on whether the cooperation is exempted from the cartel ban under an EU block exemption regulation. | EU block exemption regulations no longer applicable with immediate effect for the UK.
However block exemption regulations will be transposed into British law with minor adaptions. No changes in the assessment of corporate cooperation under competition/antitrust law aspects in the short term |
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