 Hello, my name is Dr Adudu and I teach EU and competition law here in Cambridge. I'm going to talk about the importance of the system of competition rules put in place by the EU treaties and the impact the potential Brexit could have on this body of law. Competition policy is at the core of the European Union and the body of law that is embedded in the original version of the treaties. The system rests mainly on three pillars. First, there are provisions that target collusive behaviour such as when firms conspire to increase the price paid by consumers or reduce the choices available to consumers. Second, there are provisions that address unilateral behaviour. These will apply to firms that are so large that it becomes essential to do business with them. For example, at the moment it is being argued that if you want to buy or sell on the internet it is impossible or excessively difficult without the support of Google. Rules exist to moderate how firms occupying such a dominant position may behave, preventing them for example from trying to drive smaller firms from out of the market. Finally, since 1989 the EU has a system of merger control. This system provides a one-stop shop allowing firms to obtain clearance from a single authority the European Commission rather than having to obtain clearance from all EU member states in which they operate. The competition rules were inserted in the treaty not only to promote economic efficiency and consumer welfare but also to uphold the idea of a single market. The rules ensure that all firms regardless of where they are based operate on a level playing field. What is certainly true of EU competition law is that there is a good degree of compliance and action is taken against those that do not comply. There are strong powers of investigation for both the Commission and national competition authorities. Further, individuals can and increasingly do bring actions to uphold the level playing field before the national courts. EU competition law is rightly regarded as a jewel in the crown. The rules adopted and the system for their enforcement have been so popular that countries outside of the European Union have voluntarily based their own regime on the EU model. A recent example would be the competition laws adopted in Hong Kong. So what would happen if there is a Brexit? The impact of Brexit depends on the Brexit model. There may be a full Brexit, the Swiss model or there may be a Brexit light, the Norway model or a range of alternatives in between. Under the Norway model, the United Kingdom would retain access to the single market by applying to join the European Free Trade Association and becoming a member of the European Economic Area as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein have done. Firms in the European Economic Area remain under the obligation to comply with the normal EU competition laws. The content of competition law applied in the UK and the procedures for applying it would remain broadly the same as they are at present. In addition however, firms would also be subject to the jurisdiction of the European Surveillance Authority and the European Free Trade Area Court. Even under a full Brexit, firms that trade in the EU are required to comply with EU competition law, as for example are American firms at present, Google, Microsoft and Facebook being three high profile examples. At the same time, the UK, as at present, will retain its own competition law. This at present is modelled on the EU regime and it will continue to apply. Brexit could give the UK greater freedom to freeing its own competition laws, however the divergence between the two regimes would not be beneficial or desirable. The UK has a separate criminal cartel offence which would continue to apply post Brexit. There are two important concerns. First, Britain has played and continues to play an important role in articulating a vision of competition and markets that is reflected in the EU's competition rules. Not all Member States share this vision of the role of markets in an economy and a Brexit would remove power to promote the British model of competitive markets. This model removes political interference from the marketplace. The idea is that firms are successful because they provide the best combination of quality at a given price. Firms are not successful or should not be successful merely because of where they are based. Brexit would allow competition law to be adopted that allowed political interference in markets, allowed governments to set prices, allowed governments to determine which firms may merge or collaborate with which other firms. The evidence however shows that governments make poor choices and that economic performance suffers as a result.