The UK's competition watchdog has warned it will be flooded with new cases in a no-deal scenario, as it currently relies on the European Commission to investigate matters affecting consumers across Europe, such as the proposed Sainsbury's-Asda merger. In its latest annual report, published today, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that while there are no plans for an independent regulator of food safety or consumer protection, "there is scope for one at EU The government allocated an extra £20m ($25m) to the CMA in 2019 to cope with an expected workload increase, but the regulator called for a co-operative arrangement with the EU on information exchange.
The UK's competition watchdog has warned it will be flooded with new cases in a no-deal scenario, as it currently relies on the European Commission to investigate matters affecting consumers across Europe, such as the proposed Sainsbury's-Asda merger. In a no-deal scenario, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would have to investigate all merger and competition cases affecting UK citizens, even if the companies involved are not UK-based. The government allocated an extra £20m ($25m) to the CMA in 2019 to cope with an expected workload increase, but the regulator called for a co-operative arrangement with the EU on information exchange.