The EU Commission has negotiated a number of international competition co-operation agreements with third countries which allow, amongst other things, for the exchange and use of confidential information in competition and merger control cases. It has previously signed agreements with the US (1991), Canada (1999), Japan (2003), South Korea (2009) and Switzerland (2013).
Now that the UK has left the EU it is particularly important that both the UK and the EU27 maintain a level of cooperation between the EU Commission and UK competition regulators (principally the Competition & Markets Authority) which they both previously enjoyed prior to Brexit. Cooperation is essential in particular for the efficient conduct of complex cartel cases and the scrutiny of large international mergers.
Since Brexit the UK is now a completely separate legal jurisdiction and can conduct its own separate competition investigations and merger reviews concurrently to those of the EU Commission in relation to the same cases. A level of cooperation therefore is absolutely necessary to share information and to aid discussions on possible outcomes including remedies. The conclusion of a Competition Cooperation Agreement was envisaged by the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement signed by the parties in December 2020. Hopefully such an agreement will provide that continuity of cooperation.
On 11th May 2021 the EU Commission adopted a Recommendation for Council Decision authorising negotiations for EU-UK Competition Co-operation Agreement. It is now for the Council to consider whether and under which conditions to allow for the start of negotiations on an EU-UK Competition Co-operation Agreement. It is hoped that the Agreement will be in place by the Autumn.
