2023 Outlook - Four themes for the competition year ahead

The FCO has already published an interim report into the operation of refineries in Germany and the pass- through of costs to consumers, while moves are underway to update German competition law to give the office more powers to intervene off the back of its findings. [...] While for much of 2022 the timing of the introduction of the relevant powers for the UK's Digital Markets Unit (DMU) remained uncertain, the required legislation is now set to go ahead on an accelerated timetable. [...] In the EU the Foreign Subsidy Regulation will bring extra-EU subsidies within the EC’s scope of review, while in the UK the Subsidy Control Act will replace the EU’s state aid regime, rendered void by Brexit. [...] This has on occasion led to bizarre situations, such as the Charleroi case, where (alleged) aid given by the region of Wallonia to Ryanair was the subject of proceedings between the EC and the Kingdom of Belgium, with neither the alleged grantor nor recipient directly involved. [...] Under the SCA, the role of the CMA, as the UK analogue of the Commission, will be limited to an advisory review of public authorities’ own assessment of whether the subsidy is compatible with the SCA principles.