21 March 2011

New Business-Friendly Competition Proposals Announced

A single competition authority to boost growth and streamline processes for business will be set up under proposals to improve the UK's competition regime, Business Minister Edward Davey announced today.A Competition Regime for Growth: a consultation on options for reform' sets out proposals to create a single Competition and Markets Authority by merging the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) with the Competition Commission (CC). The UK already has a globally regarded competition system but Ministers are determined to make sure that it supports growth while simplifying the existing system for business.

The proposals to strengthen and streamline the competition regime will boost the existing arrangement in a number of ways. This includes reducing the duplication of costs for business, and increasing industry confidence in the system.

The Government wants to stimulate growth by allowing the market to be dynamic and competitive. Ministers also want to empower small and medium businesses by giving them greater support in the system.

Proposals include:-

• Creating a single, powerful advocate for competition: The Competition and Markets Authority would ensure dynamic and flexible use of tools to ensure strong and fair competition.
• Increasing business confidence: through faster decision making, ending duplication, and more predictability of competition processes and decisions.
• Reducing barriers to entry: by making it easier for the competition authority to tackle anti-competitive mergers; and reform anti-trust provisions to increase deterrence of anti-competitive and abusive behaviour.
• Delivering faster results for consumers: we want shorter end-to-end studies and investigations into markets where lack of competition is giving consumers a bad deal.
•  Reducing the SME burden: we want to introduce an exemption for small mergers from the merger control regime.
• Giving small business a voice: an extended supercomplaints process to spotlight market features that harm small companies.

 You can find the consultation on the BIS website