Outcomes for people, businesses and UK economy at heart of new CMA strategy

• CMA invites views on priorities for the next 3 years and areas of focus for 2023 to 2024
• CMA Chair: “We’re here to help people, businesses and enterprise right across the UK”

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is today launching a consultation on its draft 2023 to 2024 Annual Plan.

With this plan, the CMA is putting outcomes for people, businesses and the UK economy at the heart of its new strategy. The CMA’s purpose is to help people, businesses and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. The plan sets out the outcomes it aims to achieve in line with this purpose:

• People can be confident they are getting great choices and fair deals
• Competitive, fair-dealing businesses can innovate and thrive
• The whole UK economy can grow productively and sustainably

The draft Annual Plan goes on to describe what the CMA is proposing to do to achieve these outcomes over the coming 3 years and its specific areas of focus in the next 12 months.

CMA Chair Marcus Bokkerink said:

The CMA exists to help people, businesses and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. This means we’re here for people whose voices may not otherwise be heard on things like pressure selling, false claims or misleading pricing practices. We’re here for businesses who want to bring innovations to customers or break into new markets and compete fairly. And we’re here for the UK economy, helping to accelerate productivity, innovation and sustainability across the 4 nations. Today, we set out how we plan to do that next year and into the future.

Proposed priorities over the next 3 yearsPeople:

• Consistently focus action on the areas where consumers spend the most money and time, particularly for people who need help the most
• Protect people from harmful practices
• Resolutely deter anti-competitive behaviour

Businesses:

• Enable open access to markets for innovating businesses
• Help emergent sectors to develop into high growth, innovative and competitive markets

The whole UK economy:

• Help accelerate the UK’s transition to a net zero economy
• Prioritise sectors that offer the biggest potential for impact on innovation and productivity
• Promote resilience through competition

Proposed areas of Focus for 2023 to 2024People:

• Take action in areas of essential spending and where people are under particular financial pressure, such as accommodation and caring for ourselves and others
• Address pressure selling and false or misleading pricing practices, including through online choice architecture
• Deter anti-competitive behaviour, including cartels in public procurement, and other areas which have direct effects on public and household expenditure

Businesses:

• Enable innovating businesses to access digital markets such as mobile browsers and the distribution of cloud gaming services, e-commerce and digital advertising
• Encourage effective competition in emergent markets

The whole UK economy:

• Act in existing and emergent markets for sustainable products and services. Undertake further work on green claims and on energy efficiency. Work with businesses on how they can collaborate to accelerate game-changing technologies while complying with competition law
• Identify and act in areas where we can have the most positive impact on innovation and productivity and influence the pro-competitive development of markets
• Ensure digital markets are competitive, including through preparing for the introduction of new powers for the CMA’s Digital Markets Unit (DMU)
• Identify economic risks the CMA is well-placed to address to support the resilience of the UK economy
• Further develop the work of the Office for the Internal Market (OIM) and establish the work of the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU)

Interim CMA CEO Sarah Cardell said:

Alongside our new proposed strategy, we are also taking a fresh approach to engagement with our stakeholders. This includes spending time with a wider range of consumer, business and third sector groups across all 4 nations of the UK.

Your insights can help us focus on the issues that matter the most and where we can make the biggest difference. That’s why we’re really keen to hear a wide range of voices on our plans for delivering for people, businesses, and the UK economy.

With the UK’s exit from the EU, the CMA has taken on new responsibilities and has set up the Subsidy Advice Unit and the Office for the Internal Market. It has also established the Digital Markets Unit, which is expected to be the vehicle for the new pro-competition digital regulatory regime which the Government has committed to introducing through new legislation in the current parliamentary session.

This consultation is intended to give members of the public and other stakeholders the opportunity to provide views on the CMA’s proposed Annual Plan for 2023 to 2024. For more information on the Annual Plan and how to share your views with the CMA, please visit the Annual Plan consultation page.

Notes to editors

1. For media enquiries, contact the CMA press office on 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk.

2. The Digital Markets Unit has been established within the CMA to begin work to operationalise the future pro-competition regime for digital markets.

3. The Office for the Internal Market is part of the CMA and supports the effective operation of the UK internal market. It assesses whether the internal market is operating effectively and provides expert and independent advice to UK government and devolved administrations.

4. The Subsidy Advice Unit sits within the CMA. It is a function created by the Subsidy Control Act, which provides a regime for governing the provision of subsidies within the UK following its exit from the EU.