The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued new guidelines to provide policymakers with advice on how to assess whether proposals could affect competition adversely
Introducing the guidelines, the CMA said Government intervention in markets - including through regulation and legislation - can have the unintended side effect of restricting competition in a number of ways. The guidelines suggest ways in which proposals could be re-designed in order to support competition.
Part 1 of the guidelines provides an overview of when and how policymakers can consider the competition implications of their proposals, including understanding whether a detailed competition assessment is necessary. Part 2 provides practical advice on how to conduct a competition assessment.
The guidelines complement the Green Book and Better Regulation Executive’s processes by providing a more detailed guide for how policymakers can take competition considerations into account when developing proposals.
John Kirkpatrick, CMA Senior Director, Research, Intelligence and Advocacy, said:
“The CMA is keen to promote competitive markets and, as government itself recognises, the policies developed by other parts of government can help or hinder that.”
“These guidelines are intended to help policymakers assess the impact policy proposals may have on competition, whilst achieving their original public policy goals. We will continue to work with government departments to assess specific policy proposals as they arise.”
The guidelines will also support the CMA’s new power (introduced in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015) to ‘make recommendations to ministers on the impact of proposals for legislation on competition within any UK market(s) for goods and services’ by encouraging policy makers to take competition issues into consideration early in the policy making process’.
The evidence summarised in the CMA’s report Productivity and competition: a summary of the evidence suggests that increases in competition in a market are often associated with increases in productivity, and that competition policy interventions can therefore improve productivity.
Click here to download Part 1
Click here to download Part 2
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