The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) welcomes the Government’s proposals in publishing its responses to the two recent consultations: “Reforming competition and consumer policy“ and “A new pro-competition regime for digital markets“.
The CMA’s responses on the proposals made in relation to competition and consumer law include:
- large digital platforms should take greater responsibility for monitoring and removing content and banning sellers that breach consumer law on their sites;
- the government is urged to amend existing consumer laws to make them clearer and more efficient to apply in relation to tech giants and other consumer markets;
- the resourcing of trading standards services should be considered to ensure the public bodies which share responsibility for protecting consumers operate effectively;
- strongly welcomes the government’s proposals on enhanced investigative and enforcement powers with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of CMA investigations;
- planned changes to the CMA’s merger jurisdiction thresholds will help it to review potentially harmful mergers where powerful firms are looking to buy emerging competitors or leverage their strong position into other markets.
Responding to the proposals made on the new competition regime for digital markets, Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA observes that:
- the changes will enable the CMA to take swifter, stronger action against companies which break the law and to tackle tech giants whose market power is a threat, using Digital Markets Unit (DMU) powers;
- the CMA will be able to respond more quickly and effectively to the many concerns raised about poor outcomes for consumers and small businesses in a number of UK markets;
- firms that refuse to refund their customers could also face legal orders and hefty fines.