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EU and UK agree to cooperate closely on competition matters
Today, the European Commission and the United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement. The agreement sets a new and clear framework for cooperation on competition matters between, on the one side, the Commission and EU Member State competition authorities, and, on the other side, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. It is the first dedicated EU-UK agreement fully focused on competition cooperation following the withdrawal of the UK from the Union.
The agreement lays down clear principles of cooperation to ensure smooth interactions between the EU and UK on competition matters. For example, the EU and UK will notify each other of significant antitrust and merger investigations and coordinate efforts between them when necessary. In addition, the agreement sets out the duty of the competition authorities to protect the confidentiality of shared information. The consent of the companies that provided the confidential information will remain necessary before sharing it between competition authorities.
The Competition Cooperation Agreement will be a 'supplementing agreement' to the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which provides in broader terms the basis for competition cooperation and coordination, while foreseeing the possibility to enter into a separate agreement on competition cooperation.
By signing the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement today, the EU and the UK take an additional step in implementing the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Next steps
The agreement will enter into force after both the EU and the UK have finalised their ratification procedures.
The Council of the EU is now invited to adopt a decision to conclude the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement, which will also require the consent of the European Parliament. The decision by the Council will mark the completion of the EU interinstitutional process.
Background
The EU has cooperation agreements on competition matters in place with the USA (1991), Canada (1999), Japan (2003), South Korea (2009) and Switzerland (2013). These agreements set out how the EU can cooperate with competition authorities from different jurisdictions.
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