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Sophie Albrighton

Sophie Albrighton advises clients on all aspects of competition law, including merger control, market investigations, cartel investigations, abuse of dominance, and state aid. She regularly advises clients on EU, UK and multi-jurisdictional merger control and foreign direct investment. She also has extensive experience advising clients subject to investigations by various competition regulators in the EU and the UK, as well as developing and carrying out bespoke compliance training for clients in sectors including media, FMCG, retail, energy, travel, and financial services.

2023 saw a number of developments concerning the interplay between sustainability considerations and competition policy. This blog post highlights the five key developments that businesses need to know when collaborating to achieve sustainable aims.

Key takeaways

  1. Authorities in the EU and UK resisted calls for introducing a sustainability safe harbour and adopted guidelines based on a case-by-case examination of sustainability agreements.
  2. However, sustainability agreements concerning agri-food and environmental damage may benefit from “soft(er)” safe harbours in certain jurisdictions.
  3. A combination of formal and informal guidance and case law provides increasing clarity over lower risk forms of collaboration.
  4. It further provides clarity over the circumstances in which sustainability agreements will be considered indispensable and benefit consumers.
  5. Finally, in merger control, sustainability-related issues have not yet led to novel theories of harm in the EU – but outside the EU, sustainability benefits have helped parties to get their deals cleared.

Continue Reading Was 2023 a green antitrust year? Five sustainability related competition law developments you need to know

What do you need to know?

Following a call for information earlier this year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now announced the changes it intends to make to its merger review process. The majority of the changes are to the Phase 2 process, which is only encountered in a minority of formal reviews, namely those where the CMA believes the merger could lead to a substantial lessening of competition – at the time of writing, of the 72 transactions qualifying for investigations under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 since 1 January 2022, 17 (24%) of these were referred to Phase 2 (whereas around 10% of non-simplified merger review procedures lead to a Phase 2 review in the EU). These changes largely seek to make the Phase 2 process more interactive, with a view to arriving at acceptable remedies proposals sooner in the process. The proposed changes follow a period of criticism of the CMA’s approach to merger enforcement and reflect a desire to improve the effectiveness of the UK merger review process. The proposed changes are being consulted on until 8 January 2024. Continue Reading Towards a More Interactive Merger Review Process: UK CMA Proposes Amendments

On 22 June 2022, the EU’s General Court (“GC”) fully dismissed thyssenkrupp’s appeal against the European Commission’s (“Commission”) decision to block its proposed joint venture (“JV”) with Tata Steel in 2019.

This is the first time that the GC has considered the prohibition of a “gap” case under the EU Merger Regulation (“EUMR”) since it annulled the Commission’s prohibition of CK Hutchison’s proposed acquisition of Telefónica UK (O2) in 2020 (“CK Hutchison”) (see our previous blog post here). A “gap” case is a merger in an oligopolistic market that does not result in the creation or strengthening of an individual or collective dominant position. Rather, it risks causing a “significant impediment to effective competition”.

This result may indicate a return to a more traditional approach by the GC as regards “gap” cases than that demonstrated in the CK Hutchison judgment. The judgment also provides helpful guidance on the interpretation of the EUMR and other legal instruments (such as the Market Definition Notice and the Notice on Remedies). The key findings are:

  • Standard of proof: In order to block a “gap” merger, the Commission must show with a sufficient degree of probability that the transaction significantly impedes effective competition in the internal market or in a substantial part of it.
  • SSNIP test: The Commission is not required to apply the SSNIP (small but significant and non-transitory increase in price) test when assessing substitutability between products — it is only one of the methods available to the Commission when defining the market.
  • Remedies: When assessing remedies, it is not necessary to demonstrate that the remedies remove the entire overlap between the merging parties or re-create fully the pre-merger structure in affected markets.
  • Requests for Information (“RFI”): There is no procedural error where the Commission fails to take additional steps (beyond sending systematic reminders) to ensure that recipients respond to an RFI.

Continue Reading EU General Court Upholds Tata Steel/thyssenkrupp JV Prohibition

When the UK left the EU on 31 December 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) gained new powers, functions and responsibilities previously exclusively reserved to the European Commission (the “Commission”).

This blog explores how the CMA has tackled its increased workload in the first year post-Brexit, under the shadow of the global pandemic, and the extent to which the CMA’s practice has diverged from EU law.Continue Reading Trends, developments and divergence from EU law? The CMA’s first year as a global competition authority

On 3 November, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) issued a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to replace the EU Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation or ” VABER” with a UK Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order (“UK Order”) when the VABER expires on 31 May 2022.  The VABER (which provides a safe harbour from the prohibition against anti-competitive agreements for vertical agreements that meet the applicable requirements) formed part of retained EU law following Brexit, but its upcoming expiry triggers the need for a UK Order to be issued in its place.
Continue Reading The UK CMA publishes its recommendation for replacing the retained Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation

On 20 July 2021, the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (“DCMS”) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) published proposals for a new regulatory regime for digital markets alongside accompanying consultation documents (the “Consultation”).  The Consultation seeks views from interested parties and closes on 1 October 2021.
Continue Reading New UK Digital Competition Regulation Regime Consultation Closes on 1 October 2021

Covington’s four-part video series offers snapshot briefings on key emerging trends in UK Competition Law. In part four, James Marshall and Sophie Albrighton look across the horizon at the CMA’s plans for the future: what are the proposed reforms for competition law in the UK, what is the CMA looking to do post-pandemic, what are

Covington’s four-part video series offers snapshot briefings on key emerging trends in UK Competition Law. In part three, James Marshall and Sophie Albrighton discuss digital markets, one of the key areas of focus of competition authorities around the world today, including in the UK. They are joined by guest speaker Martin Hansen, Of Counsel in

The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) is consulting on its proposed recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to replace the retained Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (“retained VABER”) with a new UK Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order (“VABEO”).

The retained VABER is the European Commission Regulation No 330/2010, which was incorporated into UK law when the UK left the EU.  The retained VABER currently provides a safe harbour for a wide range of vertical agreements, subject to certain thresholds being met. It expires on 31 May 2022 and is under review for replacement by the European Commission. Following Brexit, businesses will not benefit from any replacement to the VABER at EU level in relation to their UK activities.  The CMA has therefore consulted with businesses, industry associations and professional advisers to consider whether a UK-specific equivalent is required.  Following this initial consultation process, the CMA recommends introducing a UK-specific equivalent VABEO from 1 June 2022.
Continue Reading What you need to know about the CMA’s consultation on the Retained Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation

Covington’s four-part video series offers snapshot briefings on key emerging trends in UK Competition Law. In part two, James Marshall and Sophie Albrighton focus on current trends in enforcement and litigation. They are joined by guest speaker Louise Freeman, co-chair of Covington’s Commercial Litigation and European Dispute Resolution Practice Groups, who has extensive experience