Office of Rail Regulation launches consultation on application of competition law to services relating to railways

23 March 2005
ORR/12/05

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) today issued for consultation draft revised guidance on the application of EC and UK competition law to services relating to railways. These guidelines serve to update ORR’s previous guidance, published in November 2002, to take account of the changes brought about by coming into force on 1 May 2004 of EC Council Regulation 1/2003 (the Modernisation Regulation).

The draft revised guidelines include:

• the designation of ORR as a National Competition Authority (NCA) for the purpose of applying Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty;
• guidance on how ORR interprets its powers and functions as a regulatory body and as a NCA;
• a description of ORR’s powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA02) including the power to launch market investigations and make market references to the Competition Commission; and
• provides guidance to complainants on the type of information required by ORR before it will take up a complaint about anti-competitive behaviour under the Competition Act.

The ORR draft revised guidelines include a template form to be used by complainants wishing to submit a competition complaint to ORR.

Notes for editors

1. The consultation period will end on Monday 20 June 2005.
2. The Office of Rail Regulation exercises powers under the Competition Act 1998 (the Act) concurrently with the OFT in respect of agreements or conduct which relate to the supply of services relating to railways (see section 67(3) of the Railways Act).The Act contains two prohibitions:
   - the Chapter I prohibition prohibits agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings or concerted practices which have the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition in the UK (or any part of it) and which may affect trade within the UK (or any part of it); and
   - the Chapter II prohibition prohibits conduct by one or more undertakings which amounts to the abuse of a dominant position in a market which may affect trade within the UK (or any part of it).
3. The Modernisation Regulation requires:
   - national competition authorities of Member States to apply and enforce Articles 81 and 82 of the EC treaty;  
   - allows nationals courts to apply Articles 81 and 82 in full;
   - abolishes the system of notifying agreements for exemption under Article 81(3) and introduces a legal exception regime under which agreements do not require prior approval and businesses can assess self compliance; and
   - provides for co-operation between the European Commission and NCAs, to co-ordinate and ensure consistency in the enforcement of Article 81 and 82 of the EC treaty.
4. The final version of this guideline will be published by the Office of Fair Trading in line with its statutory obligation to publish general advice and information about the application and enforcement of the Competition Act 1998.  Detailed guidelines on the general application of competition law were published by the OFT on 21 December 2004 and are obtainable direct from the OFT website at http://www.oft.gov.uk/Business/Legal+Powers/Competition+Act+1998/ca98+publications.htm#guide.
   
   

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