On 29 October 2024 the UK and EU concluded negotiations on a new agreement that will enable increased cooperation between the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the European Commission (Commission), and national competition authorities of EU Member States.

These negotiations follow the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which enabled the UK and EU to enter into an agreement specifically addressing competition law.

Although the agreement itself is not yet available, the CMA and the Commission describe it as a “framework” for how competition authorities will collaborate when investigating relevant cross-border breaches of competition law and merger activity.

The CMA and the Commission have suggested that the agreement will achieve the following:

• The UK and the EU will inform each other of important investigations that they commence.
• The UK, EU and Member States will follow clear principles of cooperation aimed at avoiding conflicts.
• Competition authorities may share confidential information to assist with investigations (although it is likely that the undertaking whose information is being shared will need to consent to this).

These provisions will make it the first EU agreement of its kind to enable national competition authorities in Member States to directly co-operate with a third-party competition authority.

Although there has been no suggestion that the agreement will compel any changes to the substance of UK or EU competition law, it is likely to mark an important step in ensuring that the UK and the EU maintain a close relationship when monitoring regulatory compliance.

Following Brexit, the UK has powers to conduct investigations independently to the Commission, which can lead to different decisions on the same issue.  Although a cooperation agreement will not require the UK and EU to reach the same decision on a particular issue – not least because for example a merger or potential breach might have very different effects on competition in UK and EU markets – it might nonetheless lead to a closer alignment between how each jurisdiction views particular issues. In addition, if the UK and EU share more information and alert each other to cases they are looking into, this could also lead to an increase in parallel investigations taking place.

Negotiations for the new agreement commenced in May 2024, and following their conclusion the agreement itself is expected to be signed at some point in the next year. Before the agreement can be signed, the UK and the EU will need to complete their ratification procedures. As part of this, the UK Parliament and European Parliament with both review the agreement to give their consent, so the precise content of the agreement may be subject to change.