Essential Corporate News: Week ending January 31, 2020

CMA: Guidance on the functions of the CMA after the UK’s exit from the EU

On January 28, 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a guidance document to explain how the UK’s exit from the EU affects its powers and processes for competition law enforcement, merger control and consumer protection law enforcement during and after the transition period until the end of December 2020, following the UK’s departure from the EU on January 31, 2020.

The guidance also explains the treatment of “live” mergers and “live” competition law cases which are those cases that are being reviewed by the European Commission or the CMA during and at the end of the transition period.

The press release accompanying the guidance notes that at the end of the transition period, on January 1, 2021, the CMA is expected to take on responsibility for larger and more complex merger, cartel and competition enforcement cases that were previously reserved to the European Commission.  It also notes that it is for the UK Government to decide how any new UK subsidy control or state aid rules will operate in the future, including whether the CMA has a role to play in a new regime.

(CMA: UK exit from the EU: Guidance on the functions of the CMA under the Withdrawal Agreement, 28.01.20)

(CMA: UK exit from the EU: Guidance on the functions of the CMA under the Withdrawal Agreement – Explanatory Note, 28.01.20)

(The UK’s withdrawal from the EU – the CMA’s role post-Brexit, 28.01.20)

European Commission: 2020 Work Programme

On January 29, 2020, the European Commission published the Work Programme that it has adopted for 2020. This sets out six policy objectives and a total of 43 new initiatives that relate to those policy objectives.

The policy objectives are as follows:

• European Green Deal – This includes a review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive.
• Europe fit for the digital age – This includes a review of SME strategy as part of a new industrial strategy for Europe.
• An economy that works for people – This includes an action plan on the Capital Markets Union.
• A stronger Europe in the world.
• Promoting our European way of life.
• New push for European democracy.

The European Commission has also set out the 34 proposals currently awaiting decision by the European Parliament and the Council that it is proposing to withdraw and repeal, together with a list of proposals for regulatory simplification.

(European Commission, 2020 Work Programme, 29.01.20)