EU & UK Horizontals: Sustainability agreements and competition law

Ashurst Legal Outlook Podcast

In the third episode of this mini-series, we discuss how EU and UK regulators are seeking to strike a balance between competition law and sustainability agreements.

As legislators and regulators increase their focus on sustainability agreements and competition law, this podcast episode assesses the UK and EU landscapes.

To cover this evolving issue, Ashurst senior expertise lawyer Fiona Garside is joined by Irene Antypas from Ashurst’s Brussels office and Christopher Eberhardt from Ashurst’s London office. Together, they reflect on the challenge for authorities seeking to ensure that:

• Competition law doesn’t unduly stymy progress towards the UK and EU’s ambitious sustainability goals, and
• “Sustainability” isn’t used as a cover for anti-competitive agreements which do not genuinely promote sustainable progress.

The discussion covers (and contrasts) guidance from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The guidance distinguishes between sustainability agreements that are unlikely to infringe competition law and those that may raise concerns. It also considers the criteria for obtaining an individual exemption from the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements.

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