Sustainability And Competition Law: European Commission Publishes Draft Horizontal Guidelines

Traditionally the focus of competition law has been on economic goals. Arguably, that is on the assumption that non-economic public goals are better served through other areas of law. Change does, however, appear to be on the horizon. In the context of an increasing climate change threat, it is clear that coherent efforts will be required across all fields to achieve 'net zero'. Though this will inevitably require public action, cooperation amongst the private sector will also be important to deliver sustainability outcomes.

At present, EU competition law provides businesses with little by way of exception or guidance to encourage the introduction of sustainability initiatives. On this point more generally, the UK Competition and Markets Authority published a blog post in January 2021 that acknowledged the difficulties for businesses and NGOs, despite the guidance available, in navigating the competition law framework to the extent that they may abandon