Resource Library

Can companies collaborate in the interests of environmental sustainability agreements without breaching competition law in the UK? This important question is tackled by draft guidance published by the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) on 28 February 2023 (“guidance”). The guidance sets out the CMA’s proposed approach to how agreements between competitors in relation to environmental sustainability will be assessed and aims to provide businesses with clarity and comfort on the CMA’s enforcement approach to encourage such initiatives to be progressed. The guidance aligns with the important role the CMA considers it has to play in tackling climate change, as noted in a recent statement by the CMA’s CEO on 25 January 2023.

Learn about key trends and considerations around ESG policies in business supply chains.

In 2021, in the context of the common agricultural policy reform 2023-2027, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted a new exemption from competition rules for certain agricultural products. Specifically, Article 210a of Regulation 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (“CMO Regulation”) introduced an exclusion from the prohibition against anti-competitive agreements (or “cartels”) for certain restrictive agreements in the agricultural sector when those agreements are indispensable to achieve sustainability standards. In this latest development, on 10 January 2023, the European Commission (“Commission”) published for consultation its draft guidelines on how this exclusion should apply. The Guidelines seek to clarify how operators active in the agri-food sector can design joint sustainability initiatives in line with Article 210a.

In this multi-jurisdictional guide, explore an overview of key legal issues, rules and developments regarding alternative investment funds across a range of jurisdictions.

Some topics covered include the sustainability transition, the fund finance industry, foreign investment funds in Japan, and more.

This article discusses issues such as falling share prices in response to labor disputes, “living wage” resolutions at AGMs, stakeholder concerns over working conditions in supply chains, and workers speaking up about their employer’s culture and ethics, which potentially engage the EU’s new sustainability reporting duty.

In January 2023, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its much awaited consultation on its Draft Guidance on Horizontal Agreements. The CMA clearly indicated that it proposes to take advantage of its post-Brexit freedom and to depart from the position on this issue taken by the European Commission as set out in its Draft Guidance on Horizontal Agreements, and to take a more radical and permissive approach to the role competition law has to play in supporting environmental sustainability initiatives.

ACC's curated selection of resources on key ESG topics and trends, tools and strategies.