The Covid-19 health crisis raises substantial challenges for businesses and consumers and has had a significant impact on competition law affecting the consumer sector. While the particular implications will vary by jurisdiction, some common trends may be identified. One broader development is that competition authorities have recognised that certain forms of temporary cooperation between businesses, … Read more
A new Competition Act Exclusion Order, the Competition Act 1998 (Dairy Produce) (Coronavirus) (Public Policy Exclusion ) Order 2020 (the Dairy Exclusion Order) came into force on 1 May 2020. Under the Competition Act 1998 (Schedule 3 paragraph 7) the Government can exempt certain specified agreements from the Chapter I prohibition if there are exceptional … Read more
Introduction1 The Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) has ruled that two competing collective proceedings applicants in the Forex litigation must go head to head for the right to represent the potential class in one single substantive hearing, which will also determine whether a collective proceedings order (“CPO”) is made at all. With this ruling in … Read more
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on its approach to merger control during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance deals with procedural issues as well as substantive assessment, and makes it clear that on the whole the CMA’s approach remains one of ‘business as usual’. Unlike in many other jurisdictions, statutory timelines have … Read more
On 17 April 2020 the CMA announced its provisional clearance of Amazon’s proposed acquisition of a stake in Deliveroo. The transaction was referred for an in-depth Phase 2 investigation in December 2019, in light of concerns about the impact on competition for the supply of online restaurant delivery platforms and the supply of online convenience … Read more
The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world, and notably Europe, in recent weeks is placing increasing strain on our economies, in addition to the tragic human impact. Several implications for competition law have already emerged. In the update below, we summarise (non-exhaustively) potential competition law considerations for the mining sector. Competition authorities are publishing/revising … Read more
On 28 March 2020 three Orders excluding certain types of agreements from the Chapter I prohibition (prohibition on anti-competitive agreements) under the Competition Act 1998 came into force: The Competition Act 1998 (Groceries) (Coronavirus) (Public Policy Exclusion) Order (“Groceries Exclusion Order”) The Competition Act 1998 (Health Services for Patients in England) (Coronavirus) (Public Policy Exclusion) … Read more
Updated 14 April 2020 The global COVID-19 pandemic has, to an extent, re-directed some of the actions and focus of competition authorities, which are placing increasing scrutiny on several strategic industries to ensure they do not profit from the crisis. Some of these developments, as outlined below, are relevant to the pharmaceutical industry (for information … Read more
Updated 30 March 2020 The CMA wants to avoid competition law putting the brakes on any cooperation between businesses that may be necessary to ensure the security of supplies of essential foods and services. In order to reassure businesses that it will not take enforcement action in respect of such arrangements it has published ‘Guidance … Read more
