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

The extension of the legislation in 1965 to cover services and mergers

In 1965 services were assimilated to goods for the purposes of the legislation (but

agreements and arrangements operating in the area of employment of labour

continued to be wholly excluded from consideration)

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; and, at the same time,

mergers were added to the situations that were referable to what had by then become

the Monopolies and Mergers Commission – both prospective mergers and, if

referred promptly after they had taken place, completed mergers. Newspaper

mergers were made subject to special provisions; and that continues to be so. In

1980 a further category of situations was made referable to the Monopolies and

Mergers Commission, namely anti-competitive practices, to which I will come back

later in this lecture.