Location: YouTube

As the UK enters its second month of lockdown, this video reflects on the arrangements that competition authorities in the UK and EU have taken to address the challenges to competition law enforcement presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Competition and Markets Authority has recognised that “competition law enforcement could impede necessary cooperation between businesses to deal with the current crisis and ensure security of supplies of essential products and services”.  Merger reviews including Amazon-Deliveroo and Takeaway-Just Eat have addressed the effects of the crisis on the sustainability of the target.  At the same time, any relaxation of the rules is temporary, targeted and partial and does not give business a ‘free pass’ to exploit the situation.  The European Commission has issued similar guidance, while it deals with increasing financial support measures granted by member states to their industries and which put stress on the traditional State aid regime.

Join Professor Suzanne Rab as she considers the impact of changes to the regulators’ procedural, institutional and substantive approach to business cooperation, commercial practices, mergers, and State aid in this heightened and more nuanced time of competition compliance risk.

Viewers of this video may also be interested in Suzanne Rab’s podcast State aid in Challenging Times which provides a deeper dive on the State aid implications for the EU and UK against a backdrop of COIVID-19 and Brexit. Please click here to view.

Please click here to view the webinar.