Washington – As the UK Parliament considers its Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill, the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed comments today recommending that UK policymakers apply a principles-based regulatory approach that provide proportionality and predictability, while also expressing concern that the proposal would provide the competition regulator with an unprecedented level of regulatory discretion.
Considering the high level of regulatory discretion for the Competition and Markets Authority, the CCIA comments underscore the importance of providing corresponding safeguards to ensure that this authority is applied in a reasonable and proportionate way. In addition, CCIA calls for Parliament to clarify the concept of designating firms with “strategic market status” and expressed concerns about what due process protections companies would have, calling for an appeal on the merits mechanism.
CCIA has advocated for sound competition regulation rooted in consumer protection principles for more than 50 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President of Global Competition and Regulatory Policy Krisztian Katona:
“This proposal would give the UK competition regulator the sweeping authority to not just enforce the competition rules but decide which firms to regulate and the specific terms of such regulation – essentially across the entire UK economy. This high level of regulatory discretion requires strong procedural guardrails to ensure that companies have robust rights of appeal, which are proportionate to the breadth of powers available to the competition regulator. It is crucial for Parliament ‘to get it right’ to preserve a robust and competitive UK economy.”