A single
Competition and Markets Authority, which will simplify and
strengthen the competition landscape, was announced today by
Business Minister Norman Lamb.
The announcement follows an extensive consultation, which
identified that the majority of respondents felt the current
regime is too complicated and contains a lot of duplication.
The new independent body will bring together the Competition
Commission (CC) and the competition functions of the Office of
Fair Trading (OFT) to form the Competition and Markets Authority
(CMA).
The move is designed to make the competition
regime more effective and efficient by streamlining procedures,
increasing the deterrent effect of the regime and making it less
burdensome on business. This will be achieved by reforming
competition law and strengthening enforcement processes. It is
currently expected that the authority will be fully operating by
April 2014.
The CMA will have a primary duty to promote effective competition
in markets, across the UK economy and for the benefit of
consumers. This includes responsibility for merger regulation,
market investigations, cartel and antitrust cases, as well as a
number of functions with respect to the regulated utilities.
The new structure will deliver:
· Greater coherence in competition practice and a more
streamlined approach in decision making across the regime, through
strong oversight of cases by the single CMA.
· More flexibility in prioritising cases and using resources to
address the most important competition problems of the day, and
for sector regulators, better incentives to use antitrust and
markets tools to deal with competition problems.
· Faster, less burdensome processes for business.
· A single strong centre of competition expertise, which can
provide leadership for the sector regulators on competition
enforcement and a single authoritative voice for the UK internationally.
· Increased accountability and transparency.
Taken together, these changes will lead to benefits for consumers
and will help to stimulate UK productivity and growth.
Business Minister Norman Lamb said:
”Competition is a key driver of growth, allowing the most
efficient and innovative businesses to thrive, grow and enter new
markets. We already have a highly-regarded competition structure
but there is still scope for improvements.
“We want to see a simpler, more streamlined structure so that a
single competition authority can provide strong leadership and
improve the speed and quality of decisions for business. Above all
competition drives prices down and quality up, which benefits
consumers and improves UK productivity and growth.”
The Government will legislate for the establishment of a CMA
Board responsible for overall governance, strategy and performance.
The board will be required to publish rules and guidance
describing its procedures and decision-making, to ensure clear
roles, openness and transparency.
Notes to editors:
1. You can read the full response at http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/competition-regime-for-growth?cat=closedwithresponse
2. The CMA will be independent of Government and constituted as a
Non Ministerial Department (NMD). This status will ensure that the
CMA is free from influence from Ministers, whilst also ensuring
transparency in decision making and sound accountability. The
CMA’s CEO and Board will be accountable directly to Parliament.
and the CMA will be required to consult on its planned work and
set out at the end of the year how it has performed.
3. A response to the consumer landscape consultation, which will
further clarify the scope of the CMA with regards to its consumer
functions, will follow in the near future.
4. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press
notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It
also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See
http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom
for more information.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Ed Smith
Phone: 020 7215 5945
ed.smith@bis.gsi.gov.uk