The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the

competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It is a

non-ministerial government department Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil s ...

in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-competitive activities. The CMA launched in shadow form on 1 October 2013 and began operating fully on 1 April 2014, when it assumed many of the functions of the previously existing Competition Commission and

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic regu ...

, which were abolished.

Formation

On 15 March 2012 the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

(BIS) announced proposals for strengthening competition in the UK by merging the

and the Competition Commission to create a new single Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The formation of the CMA was enacted in Part 3 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, which received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 25 April 2013. In July 2012, Lord Currie was appointed chairman designate of the CMA and in January 2013

Alex Chisholm Alex Chisholm (born 2 January 1968) is a British civil servant and regulator, who has served as Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and the chief operating officer of the United Kingdom's Civil Service since April 2020. He was previously the pe ...

was appointed Chief Executive designate. The term 'designate' was dropped when the CMA was launched on 1 October 2013. On 15 July 2013 BIS announced the first stage of an open public consultation period and published a summary, setting out the background to the consultation and inviting views on the draft guidance for the CMA. The first stage of the consultation ended on 6 September 2013. On 17 September, BIS announced the second stage of the consultation, which closed on 7 November 2013. During 2013 and 2014, the CMA announced several waves of appointments at director level, reporting to members of the senior executive team. On 28 March 2014 the CMA published the Rules of Procedure for CMA merger, market and special reference groups following a consultation which ran from 21 February to 18 March. On 12 August 2019, the CMA's London office moved to The Cabot, 25 Cabot Square, in London's

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

area.

Responsibilities

In situations where competition could be unfair or consumer choice may be affected, the CMA is responsible for: * investigating phase 1 and phase 2 mergers * conducting market studies and market investigations * investigating possible breaches of prohibitions against anti-competitive agreements under the

Competition Act 1998 The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition law in the United Kingdom, along with the Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse o ...

* bringing criminal proceedings against individuals who commit cartels offences * enforcing consumer protection legislation, particularly the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Directive and

Regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

* encouraging regulators to use their competition powers * considering regulatory references and appeals * Regulation of public sector subsidies to business * Oversight of the UK Internal Market

MyFerryLink ruling

The UK Competition Commission ruled several times against

MyFerryLink MyFerryLink was an English Channel passenger and freight ferry company which began operating between Dover and Calais in August 2012. The MyFerryLink fleet consisted of two modern ferries – sister ships the and the – that carried passe ...

, an English passenger and ferry freight company, preventing its operations from Dover despite the French competition authority authorising cross-channel activity. The French government justified the decision to ban one out of three ferry operators with fair-trade concerns. The appeals court overturned these rulings, as MyFerryLink was not a merger of the bankrupt SeaFrance and

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue ...

, the latter of which remains responsible for the management of the Channel Tunnel. MyFerryLink called attention to a potential conflict of interest, pointing out that the former accountant of

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (litera ...

, the competitor and plaintiff of the case, was now a member of the UK Competition Commission. Following these delays, Eurotunnel, owner of the boats rented to MyFerryLink, sold two new boats to the aforementioned competitor. Due to this, the port of

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

was blocked by workers, boats were occupied and the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...

attacked, resulting in cross-channel disruption and traffic jams in the UK and France.

Notes

External links

* * * * {{authority control Government agencies established in 2013 2013 establishments in the United Kingdom Competition regulators Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Non-ministerial departments of the Government of the United Kingdom Financial regulatory authorities of the United Kingdom Consumer organisations in the United Kingdom

Formation

Responsibilities

MyFerryLink ruling

See also

Notes

External links