This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on competition, monopolies and mergers. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.
This note gives an introduction to the purpose of competition law, and a summary of the institutional arrangements in this country for enforcing it.
The Enterprise Act 2002 effected a major reform of the merger regime - including a new competition test for assessing mergers & takeovers, to be used in most cases. This replaced a broader public interest test, which some have argued should be reintroduced, to prevent foreign takeovers from damaging national interests. This note discusses the 2002 reform, and subsequent debates as to whether the law should be changed.
Looks at the Pensions Regulator's powers to protect pension scheme benefits.
15.04.2016 Competition and Markets Authority "Energy market investigation"
This Commons Library Briefing paper summarises the 'Summary of provisional decision on remedies' published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as part of its 'Energy market investigation' on 10 March 2016.
This Commons Library briefing paper looks at the history of political and regulatory intervention designed to increase the competiveness of domestic energy markets in Great Britain. The Paper sets out the timetable for the Energy Market Investigation and summarises the provisional findings that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published. The paper also summarises the main actions that Ofgem has undertaken in the past to tackle the level and complexity of tariffs.
This note provides a short history to the events that lead up to the establishment of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in June 2013, , and recent debates as to the Adjudicator's impact and the review of its remit which is to be undertaken in 2016.
A ban on the sale of alcohol below cost price, defined as alcohol duty plus VAT, came into force on 28 May 2014. This followed the Coalition Government's announcement in July 2013 that it would not introduce a minimum unit price. Alcohol charities and public health groups continue to argue for the introduction of a minimum unit price, claiming that this would have more of an impact on alcohol-related harm than the ban on below cost selling.
This book examines the key issues facing the House of Commons over the course of the 2015 Parliament - from the public finances to the UK's membership of the EU and from school places for children to climate change.
This note examines the passage of the Coalition Government's legislation to establish a new system of regulation for the pubs sector. A second Library note discusses the historical background to this initiative (SN6740).
This Library Note provides background reading ahead of the Bill's second reading in the House of Lords on 2 December 2014.