Competition Law (Hansard, 7 November 1996)

§ Dr. Howells
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of submissions received in 1996 by his Department on proposals for competition law reform were broadly in favour of(a) the incorporation of measures similar to article 85 of the treaty of Rome into United Kingdom law and (b) the introduction of a prohibition approach to anti-competitive agreements. [2245]
620W

Mr. John M. Taylor
Responses were almost universally in favour of a prohibition approach to anti-competitive agreements following the broad framework of article 85, with a majority preferring that the prohibition set out in article 85(1) should be narrowed in scope along the lines suggested in the consultation document.

§ Dr. Howells
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress his Department has made since the publication of the Green Paper "Abuse of Market Power" in 1992; and if he will make a statement. [2244]

Mr. Taylor
The Government announced in April 1993 that they intended to strengthen the existing provisions in the Fair Trading Act 1973 and the Competition Act 1980 to deal with abuse of market power A consultation document issued in March 1996, "Tackling Cartels and the Abuse Market Power—a consultation document", set out specific proposals on how the existing framework should be strengthened. Draft clauses which would give effect to the proposals to strengthen the fair trading and competition Acts were published in August 1996 as part of a draft competition Bill.

§ Dr. Howells
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the advantages of introducing a prohibition approach to United Kingdom competition law. [2248]

Mr. Taylor
The Government believe that their proposals to replace the present Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1977 with a prohibition of anti-competitive agreements will be a more efficient and effective way of dealing with the control of anti-competitive agreements.
On a prohibition of abuse of market, the Government remain of the view that no compelling case has been made in favour of a prohibition-based system for the economy at large. The difficulties of clearly defining abuse risk deterring genuinely competitive behaviour. The Government are, however, happy to promote further public debate on this matter.

§ Dr. Howells
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many submissions have been received to date following the publication of the consultation paper "Tackling Cartels and the Abuse of Market Power". [2246]

Mr. Taylor
My Department has published two consultation documents under this heading this year, the first a consultation document on the detailed policy options for implementing the Government's proposals, the second a document containing a draft Bill.
In response to the first document, we have received 109 submissions. In response to the second document, we have received 91 submissions to date.

§ Dr. Howells
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much departmental time was spent in preparation of the consultation paper "Tackling Cartels and the Abuse of Market Power." [2247]

Mr. Taylor
My Department has issued two consultation documents under this heading this year, the first a consultation document on the detailed policy options for implementing the Government's proposals, the second a document containing a draft Bill: 1.4 man years were spent in preparing the first document, 3.2 man years in preparing the second.