Brexit and competition law: an essential summary of key competition and state aid implications

How will state aid and competition law fare after Brexit? This update provides a concise summary on where things currently stand.

With just under a year to Brexit day, this article looks at what we can expect in the area of competition and state aid law and identifies areas of ongoing uncertainty.

Cartels, anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance

Consistency

UK competition law (which applies to trade within the UK) is modelled on EU competition law (which applies to trade between EU member states). Currently the interpretation of UK competition law is explicitly linked to that of the European Commission and Court of Justice (ECJ). While such a strong link is unlikely to continue post-Brexit, it is possible that regulators and courts applying UK competition law could be required to ‘have regard to’ the interpretation of EU competition law in the EU. This would provide for a degree of consistency for businesses operating in the UK and EU post-Brexit, that would be generally welcomed.

The Prime Minister’s recent Mansion House speech in March does not perhaps extend to the requirement for UK courts to ‘have regard’ to judgments of the ECJ, but is not far off.

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