Clause 68 - Initial enforcement orders: completed mergers
Enterprise Bill
10:30 am
Mr Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 273, in page 49, line 41, after `created', insert—
`(aa) the provisions of section 20(1)(b) have been satisfied;'.
There is an echo of our previous debates on the dominance test, of which the Opposition are still in favour. We should like subsection (3) to be tied in with the amendments we tabled on the dominance test, which would have allowed the OFT to act if it had grounds to suspect that a dominant position would be created or enhanced and competition would be significantly reduced. The Government have set their face against the dominance test as a matter of principle—I will not pursue it in detail now as we debated it as a matter of principle—but we still think that there should be an additional requirement in the provision, and are open to argument from the Minister as to how our concerns, and those of the CBI, might be met in a different way. I hope that that helps to illustrate the concerns that lie behind what is, after all, a probing amendment.