| Author (Person) | Wilks, Stephen |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| Series Title | European Competition Journal |
| Series Details | Volume 7, Number 1, Pages 1-23 |
| Publication Date | January 2011 |
| ISSN | 1744-1056 |
| Content Type | Journal Article |
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Introduction: "On 14 October 2010 the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the new Coalition Government, Vince Cable, announced that “I am minded to merge the Competition Commission and the competition and markets investigation function of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to create a single, streamlined expert competition and markets authority”. This rationalisation of the enforcement agencies comprises the first major reform of the UK competition regime since the 2002 Enterprise Act and, while it is a shock (there was no mention of this in the Coalition’s Programme for Government), it is hardly a surprise."
"This article is speculative and intended to contribute to the debate about reform. It is written at a relatively high level of generalisation to coincide with the publication of the detailed options for consultation. The article does not attempt to engage in detail with the content of the Consultation Paper that was published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) on16 March 2011 with a closing date for responses of 13 June 2011. It seeks to contribute to a consultation debate which should be well grounded, critical, ambitious and not too bogged down in detail. It is important not to lose sight of some of the fundamental principles of agency design since, as discussed below, the legislative process is capable of producing some quick fixes and pragmatic compromises. This article picks up four sets of key principles, in the
form of independence, leadership, processes and relationships, which provide a context for the more detailed debate that is to come."
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| Source Link | https://doi.org/10.5235/174410511795887598 |
| Subject Categories | Internal Markets |
| Subject Tags | Competition Law | Policy, Innovation |
| Keywords | National Competition Authorities |
| Countries / Regions | United Kingdom |
