July 22, 2019

On 18 July, the UK Government issued a new non-binding strategic steer to the CMA. The steer, which is intended to support the CMA in achieving its objectives and delivering real benefits for UK consumers and the UK economy, has been updated to:

• promote productivity and remove unnecessary burdens on business and consumers;
• encourage the CMA to use their consumer protection and enforcement powers;
• emphasise the CMA’s role in making recommendations to and challenging government in the interests of competition and consumers;
• reflect modern markets, the digital economy and our industrial strategy; and
• recognise the important role of the CMA after the UK leaves the EU.

The CMA will be expected to have regard to the new steer, but retains full independence in how it approaches its work, its selection of cases and the tools it uses to tackle them.

The steer underlines the Government’s desire to make the most of the challenges and opportunities of the digital economy. It notes that, for these markets to operate in the interests of consumers and provide opportunities for new businesses, new approaches may be needed. Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, touched upon these issues in a speech on Competition Rules on 18 July. To read the text of the speech in full, click here.

According to the steer, the Government will ensure that CMA’s powers can provide it with the flexibility to adapt to these challenges, providing the scope for the CMA to pioneer innovative approaches to finding and solving competition and consumer problems. To read the steer in full, click here.