The development of British competition law. A complete overhaul and harmonization

IV.

The rules on competition of the EC Treaty and the ECSC Treaty

The direct effect of EC competition law in the United Kingdom since 1973

I have now covered the first three of the four régimes of competition law that were

operative in the United Kingdom before the recent reforms and that brings me to the

fourth régime. The fourth régime was provided by the rules on competition of the

EC Treaty which of course still continue to apply as before.

The United Kingdom acceded to the European Communities on 1

st

 January 1973.

The EC rules on competition then became of direct effect in the United Kingdom,

notably Articles 85 and 86 of the European Economic Community Treaty, as it was

then called, which took effect in addition to national competition law, and Articles

65 and 66 of the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty, which, so far as coal

and steel Treaty products were concerned, took effect to the exclusion of national

competition law.

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