UK-EU Competition Cooperation Agreement: A step nearer to closer collaboration on competition cases

The UK-EU Competition Cooperation Agreement has now (April 2026) been presented to Parliament in the UK following signature in February 2026. Formal ratification is pending from both the UK and the EU.

The agreement, which we first reported on in 2024, is aimed at promoting cooperation and coordination on cases between the UK's and the EU's competition authorities. Previously, post-Brexit cooperation was based on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and individual waivers, meaning that enforcement cooperation was largely informal and ad hoc.

This agreement seeks to establish a formal framework for competition cooperation, covering the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the European Commission and the national competition authorities (NCAs) of EU Member States. Per Article 2, the agreement does not extend to UK or EU Member State regulators with concurrent competition powers, such as Ofcom or ARCEP (respectively the UK and  French telecoms regulators). Despite this, the majority of cooperation one might expect will be covered by the agreement's scope.

Key takeaways

Given the impending ratification of this agreement, there are a number of points which businesses should be aware of:

• The agreement will cover the fields of merger control, competition law compliance and cartel enforcement action and data protection investigations. However, it will not extend to the investigations under the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act or the EU Digital Markets Act.
• Due to the negative comity provision, the UK and the EU may still arrive at different decisions (as is possible today). Specifically, while cooperation will become further formalised, different legal frameworks and policy considerations remain although the substantive approach remains largely  similar since Brexit.
• Merger control arguments (particularly points around market definition, unless justified by differing characteristics between jurisdictions) must be consistent. Closer collaboration between authorities is likely to lead to greater scrutiny and the identification of any inconsistencies, but should help with remedy discussions.  
• In cartels, there will be prompt notification of enforcement activities, but only once these are public and there will be  coordination when it is in the authorities' mutual interest, but the agreement does not impose any obligation to share information, and when shared can only be used in evidence with respect to the competition law subject matter it was initially obtained for.   Increased cross-channel cooperation should lead to evolving strategies for businesses. There will be a greater need to develop cross-border plans, for example in the pursuit of leniency.
• Engagement with competition authorities may be facilitated by cooperation under the agreement. Businesses may not have to navigate disconnected investigations, which negatively impact productivity and resources.
• Finally, as one would expect given the signatory parties, the agreement applies only between the CMA, the European Commission and the respective NCAs. Relationships with other competition authorities (e.g. in the US) are not affected and will be subject to national law and waivers agreed with the parties being investigated.