Anticompetitive Practices in Great Britain: Expanded Enforcement under the Competition Act 1980

The current antitrust laws are scattered among numerous statutory provisions. The British approach to antitrust laws is expressed in separate attacks on restrictive practices as opposed to broad attacks on monopolies and mergers. Restrictive agreements are controlled through a public registration process and reviewed by a specially-created court. Resale price maintenance is banned through similar procedures.

Monopolies and mergers are investigated differently, with entire market sectors referred to a commission especially designed to determine whether a monopoly or merger operates against the public interest. This overall statutory structure is both too narrow, and too broad. It is too limited because many types of anticompetitive activities are not within its scope. The Competition Act 1980 alleviates this problem.

The structure is too broad because potentially beneficial agreements may be discouraged by the registration process. Numerous other troubling problems plague the existing system.