Companies breaching either or both of the prohibitions would be liable to fines and may be
required to pay compensation to third parties affected by their anti-competitive behaviour.
With the passage of the Enterprise Act in 2002, further significant changes have been
introduced, including the addition of strong deterrents for individuals involved in
breaches of competition law, the modernisation of the monopoly and merger rulesand
the restructuring and extension of the powers of the competition authorities (see
below). Whereas the Fair Trading Act emphasised the notion of the ‘public interest’ in
examining anti-competitive practices, the new legislation applies the test of a ‘substantial
lessening of competition’ when the competition authorities are called upon to assess an
existing or planned merger. To be deemed a ‘relevant merger situation’,