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Dated July 2004
On 30 September 2005, the Competition Commission was asked to investigate the proposed acquisition of the new Greater Western franchise (the GWF) by FirstGroup plc (FirstGroup). FirstGroup is a UK-based transport company with bus, tram and rail operations across the UK and North America and currently operates four passenger rail franchises in the UK (First Great Western, First Great Western Link, First Trans Pennine Express and First ScotRail, along with a non-franchise "open access" rail service (Hull Trains), and will also operate the Thameslink/Great Northern franchise from 1 April 2006. The new franchise will run for seven years from 1 April 2006, and was awarded to FirstGroup by the Department of Transport on 22 December 2005. The Commission has decided that substantial lessening of competition (SLC) will not result from the merger, either for the alternative public transport services available for their "point-to-point journeys" or to the wider network markets.
It is thirteen years since the Railways Act 1993 started the process of privatising British Rail, replacing it with one company owning and managing the infrastructure, an open-access system for freight services and a series of twenty-five passenger franchises let to private companies for a specified period of time. This period has seen almost continuous change, and there is now a new 'triumvirate' framework with the Department for Transport, the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail in place, with the third generation of franchises in the process of being let and the number being reduced to nineteen. The Committee's report examines the current franchising system, focusing on the coherence of its objectives, the effectiveness of the process for awarding franchises and the management of franchise agreements, and whether more competition and vertical integration is needed. Findings include that the current system represents a policy muddle which lacks a coherent framework for the development of good services and delivery of value for money for passengers and taxpayers. The only way the Government can increase capacity and improve services for the long-term is to drop the dogmatic pursuit of competition in its decision-making as to what the private and public sectors can and should do in future. The Government's forthcoming long-term strategy for the railways will need to address these issues, and to set out a structure and a strategy capable of securing quality passenger rail services to meet demand over the next half a century.
This book is a fully up-to-date, comprehensive guide to the law, economics and practice of UK merger control law. This guide presents an integrated legal and economic assessment of the substantive appraisal of mergers and examines in detail the following topics: the history of the Enterprise Act and its development from the Fair Trading Act; the various regulatory bodies that form the institutional structure of the UK merger control regime; enterprises subject to merger control regulation and the jurisdictional thresholds of the Enterprise Act; the relationship of the Enterprise Act with the European Merger Regulation; public interest mergers and the role of the Secretary of State; and merger remedies. All recent legislative developments including the merger of the OFT and the Competition Commission and the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, as well as all relevant case since the first edition of the magisterial text are explored.
The second edition of this book provides a definitive statement of the law relating to UK merger control following the wide-ranging changes to the merger control system being introduced by the Enterprise Act, during the second half of 2003
This publication sets out the Government's response to the Committee's report (HC 574, session 2005-06 (ISBN 0215027590) on the eighth annual report by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ('Human Rights Annual Report 2005', Cm. 6606, ISBN 0101660626). Issues discussed in the report include: the international legal framework and the work of international institutions; the war against terrorism and treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, extraordinary rendition and the use of information derived from torture, the situation in Iraq and the trial of Saddam Hussein; the arms trade and military assistance, and corporate social responsibility. Amongst the Government's responses, it disagrees with the concerns the Committee raised over i) the fact that the Minister responsible for human rights issues is also the Minister of State for Trade, roles that the Committee found to be often contradictory; and ii) the decision to subsume human rights work into the more general category of sustainable development.
Dated November 2004
This book provides an introductory but thorough guide to EU competition law, covering the underlying economics, and the key substantive areas of anticompetitive agreements (Article 81), abuses of dominance (Article 82), the application to the most common types of commercial agreement, state aids, state measures limiting competition and mergers. It also examines the procedures under which the relevant competition authorities apply the rules, private enforcement of the rules before the courts, and minimising risk by implementing a compliance programme. The emphasis is practical rather than theoretical: the authors are practitioners in the field of competition law and economics, with many years’ individual and collective experience in the area. This will be an essential reference tool for practitioners, academics and students of EU Competition Law.
The Commission's transport merger inquiry examines the implications for market competition from the joint venture undertaken between Stagecoach Bus Ltd and Braddell plc in relation to the Scottish bus and coach businesses operating under the brands of megabus, Motivator and Scottish Citylink. The report concludes that the joint venture is likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) in the supply of scheduled coach services in the Saltire Cross route group (Glasgow-Aberdeen and Edinburgh-Inverness coach routes crossing at Perth) and recommends a divestment remedy to address the SLC identified.
Competition law, at both the EC and UK levels, plays an important and ever-increasing role in regulating the conduct of businesses. Based on the premise that open and fair competition is good for both consumers and businesses, competition law prevents businesses from entering into anti-competitive agreements and from abusing their dominant market position. Competition Law and Policy in the EC and UK looks at how competition law affects business, including: co-ordinated actions; pricing behaviour; take-overs and mergers; and state subsidies. It provides a clear guide to and outline of the general policies behind, and the main provisions of EC and UK competition law. Information is presented within a structured framework, complete with a glossary of useful terminology. This fourth edition has been revised and updated to take into account developments since publication of the previous edition, including expanded coverage of the regulation of cartels, the development of private enforcement, the consideration of IP issues in Microsoft, and extended discussion of UK competition Law.