Maintaining Competitive Markets: The Control of Restrictive Agreements and Cartels in the UK and EC

An important aspect of UK competition policy is the attempt to maintain competitive markets by prohibiting restrictive agreements and cartels involving price fixing, market sharing, etc., the effect of which is to suppress, limit or distort active rivalry between suppliers. Examines UK policy towards restrictive agreements, alongside similar attempts to control cartels in the European Community. Outlines the regulatory frameworks operating in the UK and EC and emphasizes particular points of interest in the application of policy control by reference to selected restrictive agreement/cartel cases. While the attack on formal “open” collusion has been highly successful, it is clear from the work of the Office of Fair Trading and the European Commission that clandestine (”covert”) collusion between suppliers remains an on‐going problem.