UK Competition Policy and Brexit – Time for a Reset

July 2016

CPI Europe Column edited by Anna Tzanaki (Competition Policy International) & Juan Delgado (Global Economics Group) presents:

UK Competition Policy and Brexit – Time for a Reset by Oliver Bretz
(Euclid Law)

Intro by Juan Delgado (Competition Policy International)

Brexit will not only affect UK competition policy but will also have an important impact on EU competition policy. The UK has been a frontrunner on the modernization of EU competition policy, on the criminalization of cartels, on the application of sophisticated economic analysis and on the claim of antitrust damages. EU competition policy is losing one of its best pupils. Oliver Bretz (Euclid Law) discusses how, if the UK resists the pressure to relax its competition policy to cushion a likely economic downturn, it can implement a more effective antitrust regime outside the rigid rules of the EU.

Listening to the UK Chancellor speaking about a “reset” of economic policy in the autumn, it suddenly dawned on me that I, along with most commentators, was missing a point on Competition policy and Brexit. Rather than worrying whether we will end up with a Norwegian or a Swiss model, we should see Brexit as an opportunity to “reset” our competition policy. Let me explain why: I am by no means asserting that we are doing a bad job in competition policy. In fact, I believe that the CMA and the sectoral regulators are doing a very good job, as is borne out in the international comparisons. Howeve