Possible Implications Of Brexit In Competition Law

General

It should be noted that implications of a Brexit vote will be dependent upon the outcome of the exit negotiations that would take place following the submission of Britain's notice to leave the EU (e.g. will Britain remain in the single market at least to some extent?). Post-Brexit, any UK businesses which offer or propose to offer goods or services in the EU will continue to be bound by EU competition law. UK competition law is largely based on EU Competition law legislation and is unlikely to change fundamentally as a result of Brexit. The EU would lose its legal jurisdiction over UK law. The UK would no longer be able to have input in shaping EU competition law and would no longer be able to contribute to the decision-making process for Commission cases. In terms of enforcement and its deterrent effect, the UK agencies at a national level have traditionally been less active than the Commission in respect of enforcement action for anti-competitive behaviours (e.g. between 2007 and 2012 (inclusive), the UK authorities made 7 decisions and imposed fines of around half a billion pounds while the Commission made 42 decisions imposing fines of approximately 15 billion Euros in the same period). Following Brexit, there would likely be higher compliance costs. UK authorities would likely have to become more active where there are EU investigations with UK implications. Cartels

There is a prospect that we would have parallel regulation and therefore possible fines under both the UK and EU regimes. Undertakings involved in cross-border cartels covering both EU countries and the UK would face separate investigations by both the Commission and the CMA. This could lead to regulatory uncertainty and double jeopardy issues. The Commission would not have jurisdiction to conduct dawn raids on business premises situated in the UK. It is likely however that the CMA would coordinate its enforcement activities with the Commission in a similar fashion to the coordination with agencies outside of the EU which it currently has in place (e.g. with DOJ and FTC in the United States). Merger Control

Companies would remain subject to EU regulation if the deal was "cross-border" with EU Member State meaning that companies would still need to be mindful of the EU thresholds. The UK would lose its entitlement to seek to "call in" a merger (under Article 9) for UK consideration where the effects of an EU merger were expected to be experienced in the UK. The UK...