Author Description

The UK Competition Act, in force since March 2000 has brought with it rigorous new investigative powers and the potential for serious penalties. The Enterprise Act 2002 tightened the law still further making it a criminal offence to engage in "horizontal" price fixing and bid rigging. As a result, the UK has one of the toughest competition law regimes in the EU. However, new means of communication, larger concentrations of market power and globalisation of business have brought new opportunities for collusion and abuse of a dominant position. It is not surprising that the competition authorities are redoubling their efforts at enforcement in the new environment. This Special Briefing describes UK competition law referring, where relevant, to EU competition law, to Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty of Rome. It aims above all to be practical and concentrates on what is allowed and what is not, what is advised to ensure compliance and how to make complaints under the Chapter I and Chapter II prohibitions in the Competition Act 1998. Wherever possible the Briefing indicates where the reader can find further information on a particular competition law topic.