Brexit: new competition rules to replace retained EU laws

The Government is set to repeal EU laws that discourage “efficiencies, investment, and innovation” and replace them with regulations that work for British businesses, it has been announced. 

If you own a business, here’s what you need to know.

What is changing?

After the UK officially left the European Union in January last year, a number of EU rules and regulations were retained to ease the transition.

Several of these pertained to competition law.

These laws exempt businesses from competition law in certain circumstances, but impose unnecessary burdens in other areas, discouraging partnership and innovation in the UK.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended a “new, bespoke competition law exemption” for the UK to replace retained EU legislation, which expires on 31 May 2022.

How will this benefit British businesses?

The new rules will encourage “vertical agreements” – defined as agreements between companies at different levels of the supply chain, such as farmers and supermarkets.

Vertical agreements are good for businesses as they result in efficiencies, investment, and innovation – and ultimately lower operation costs.

According to the report, the benefits include:

Further reading

To learn more about the Draft Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order, please click here.

Get advice today

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our team today.

Cloud Accounting Experts

Xero Intuit QuickBooks Sage Dext Brightpay

Latest Insights

Make an enquiry

Have a question? Contact us and a member of our team will get back to you.

If you would like to see full details of our data practices please visit our Privacy Policy and if you have any questions please email privacy@thomascoombs.com.

Awards and accreditations