Competitive business beneficial for all: the Harper Review proposal

Key Points:

The Harper Review's proposed rewrite of the misuse of market power provision seems to throw a much wider net than the current law.

Since its introduction in its current form in the 1980s, the misuse of market power provision – section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 – has been the subject of intense debate and numerous reviews and inquiries.

Now we have a concrete reform proposal from the Harper Review of competition policy intended to make the law "fit for purpose". Will it be a step in the right direction?

This law is aimed at preventing companies with a powerful market position from deliberately using their power to stamp out their competition. Currently the law requires the courts to consider three key factors to determine whether a company has misused its power.