Morning, Thursday, 16th July 2026
Online
This conference will focus on next steps for UK competition and market regulation.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss potential approaches to refining the UK competition regime, following the recent announcement in the King’s Speech that government intends to introduce a Competition Reform Bill in this session of Parliament. The conference also comes with the Department for Business and Trade considering responses to its consultation Refining Our Competition Regime, and will look at key issues following the Government’s Strategic Steer to the Competition and Markets Authority published last year and the CMA’s Strategy: 2026-2029.
Discussion will consider how the UK’s competition framework might develop to remain effective, proportionate and responsive to structural changes across the economy, with a focus on approaches to improving regulatory coherence, strengthening the regime’s ability to address market failures, and priorities for creating predictable outcomes that are transparent for both businesses and consumers.
The agenda assesses next steps for regime development, including addressing concerns around independence and regulatory scrutiny, how reforms might avoid operational burdens and increased litigation risks, and options for updating competition tools and statutory functions in increasingly digital, AI, and data‑driven markets.
Competition reform & business confidence
Delegates will assess what proposals may mean for business and investor confidence, including changes to the CMA’s statutory duties, enhanced flexibility in investigations, and reform to decision-making timelines. The CMA’s approach to prioritisation will also be discussed, as well as options for ensuring greater certainty, clarity and predictability around merger investigations, the balance between accountability and independence, and next steps for the operation and implementation of remedies in practice.
Delegates will also consider approaches to supporting smaller businesses and challenger firms, including priorities for reducing administrative burden of competition processes, options for providing clearer guidance and informal engagement routes, and how proportionality might best be considered when engaging with different market participants.
Sessions will look at the CMA’s ongoing programme of regulatory reform, including the Market Remedies Regulatory Review and consultation on proposed changes to its merger remedies approach in CMA87, with concern from some around the effectiveness of both behavioural and structural remedies. Delegates will examine how flexibility in the merger remedies process might help in reducing regulatory burdens for businesses - particularly SMEs - and ensuring effective consumer protection, as well as keeping pace with change - particularly in digital markets.
Taking place alongside the CMA’s recently launched Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business‑software ecosystem, discussion will also examine how bundling, defaults, interoperability and software‑licensing practices may affect competitive conditions and market access, and how the regime’s tools operate in practice in fast‑moving digital and AI‑enabled markets.
Markets regime, merger control & regulatory processes
Delegates will also examine the CMA’s Mergers Charter and its implications for how firms engage with the authority during merger reviews, including discussion on transparency of the CMA’s process and how this impacts business confidence during merger investigations. Attendees will explore how streamlining the markets regime could reduce review times, and how greater flexibility in the concurrency framework might work in practice in sectors with active economic regulators.
Application of competition policy in specific markets moving forward will be discussed, including how sector-specific interventions can best tackle persistent competition concerns around affordability and consumer protection, as well as the balance between regulatory intervention and market-led solutions. Recent case studies and ongoing interventions will be examined, such as the CMA’s final report on the Veterinary Services Market for Household Pets Review, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consultation on veterinary market reform, and the CMA’s recently launched study into private provision in the dental market, alongside priorities for improving pricing transparency, access and consumer choice.
Enforcement & investigatory powers
Further sessions will discuss enforcement priorities and strengthened investigatory powers for the CMA, including deployment in practice of those relating to algorithms, as well as strategic approaches to co-ordination across competition and consumer protection tools. Delegates will assess how these powers could be used effectively in online environments, amid stakeholder concerns over algorithmic transparency and consumer protection in digital markets.
There will also be discussion on strategic approaches to competition policy that might support innovation, investment, and growth across the economy, including the role of regulatory clarity, proportionality and international competitiveness, and implications for businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions as the regime develops.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates.
