Channel Islands'

competition law

The Channel Islands are probably best known for their historical sites and much less for their local merger control regimes. I had the privilege of working at the Jersey national competition authority during its formative years 2006-2011, and I have kept an eye on developments in the Channel Islands ever since: I reported on Channel Islands’ merger control procedures in the “Getting the Deal Through” Merger Control publications issues 2015 (pp.91-91) and 2016 (pp.85-91). I reported on Jersey (only) developments in relation to merger control in the “International Comparative Legal Guide to” series on Merger Control in 2017 (p.214-219), 2018 (p.185-190) and 2019 (p.227-232).


In January 2020, OmniCLES have published a 60-page study on CI merger control to help lawyers determine whether there is a need to notify the Jersey and Guernsey competition authorities. The study includes a list of all merger decisions by the Channel Islands’ competition authorities with reference to the sector in which the Parties were active to allow for a quick identification of potentially relevant precedent. The study also includes other potentially useful information for future merger notifications, such as the timing of Jersey and Guernsey applications versus the associated EC notification in previous cases. The study is available as an electronic (pdf) document for a price of 199 Euro. Please place your order at  rob.van.der.laan@omnicles.com. Please note that at this time, the pdf is for sale only to clients with an EU VAT registration number.

I also wrote 23 reports and articles on competition law in the Channel Islands during the period 2012-2021 as the country reporter for the European Competition Law Review:

  1. Report on an investigation in the telecoms section, ECLR issue 42 (2021), N118-119. 
  2. Report on the first JCRA merger decisions since the break-up of the CICRA, ECLR issue 42 (2021), N50-51.
  3. Report on first GCRA decision since the end of CICRA, ECLR issue 41 (2020), N-123
  4. Report on the end of CICRA, ECLR issue 41 (2020), N65-66
  5. Airline decision in the Channel Islands, ECLR Issue 4 (2020), pp.210-211.
  6. Channel Islands Merger Control 2020, 10 January 2020, OmniCLES
  7. The public interest test in Guernsey merger control, ECLR issue 11 (2019), pp.533-537.
  8. The future of enforcement of the prohibition of the abuse of a dominant position in Jersey, ECLR issue 7 (2018), pp.302-305.
  9. Channel Islands competition law enforcement in 2017: Merger Control only, ECLR issue 5 (2018), pp. 228-230.
  10. Channel Islands competition law enforcement: a new direction?, ECLR issue 6 (2017), pp. 295-296.
  11. Report on proposed changes to the merger control regime, ECLR Issue 1 (2017), N-1-3
  12. Channel Island competition law enforcement 2015: Getting ready for a new course, ECLR issue 5 (2016), pp.176-178
  13. Report on an abuse of dominance decision in the aviation sector, ELCR issue 7 (2016), N-89
  14. Report on the year 2014 for competition law enforcement in Jersey and Guernsey, ECLR issue 4 (2015), N-29-31
  15. Report on the completion of market studies on the retail supply of groceries in the Channel Islands and on the supply of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco in Jersey. ECLR issue 9 (2014), N-75-76
  16. Report on the first year of merger control in Guernsey, ECLR issue 12 (2013),N-155-157
  17. Report on the first merger decision adopted under the new Guernsey merger control regime, ECLR issue 7 (2013), N-103-104
  18. Twins separated by birth: A few striking differences between the competition legislation applicable in the Channel Islands, ECLR issue 6 (2013), pp.326-331.
  19. Report on a consultation document on the future of postal regulation in Jersey and Guernsey, ECLR issue 6 (2013), N-87
  20. Report on the announcement of review of the costs of groceries in the Channel Islands, ECLR issue 6 (2013), N-86
  21. Report on Guernsey competition law and a look at some of the merger decisions adopted by the CICRA during the past six months, ECLR issue 3 (2013), N-39-40
  22. About Dogs and Barking: Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority Decision C793/11 Jersey Telecom Limited, ECLR issue 1 (2013), pp.17-24.
  23. Report on the introduction of merger control and legislation concerning the abuse of a dominant position in Guernsey, ECLR issue 12 (2012), N-184-185