Competition | UK Regulatory Outlook November 2025

Civil engineering market study

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has updated the timeline of its civil engineering market study, confirming that the expected publication of its interim report is now December 2025. Launched on 19 June 2025, the study examines the design, planning and delivery of railway and public road infrastructure by the civil engineering sector in the UK. With the interim report expected in December 2025 and a final report expected in April 2026, ahead of the statutory deadline of 18 June 2026, businesses should prepare for imminent findings that may have implications for practices across the sector.

Key compliance implications include:

• Broad industry engagement: The CMA published an invitation to comment earlier this year and published responses from 17 major stakeholders on 26 August 2025. This included leading contractors, consultancies and industry bodies. This signals comprehensive scrutiny of procurement, pricing and competitive conduct.
• Imminent interim findings: With the interim report due December 2025 and final report expected April 2026 (statutory deadline 18 June 2026), businesses face potential recommendations on tendering practices, framework agreements and client relationships within weeks.
• Sector-wide remedies: Market studies can trigger a decision of no further action, a market investigation reference or result in the CMA accepting undertakings in lieu of a reference. The last two of these may potentially affect contract structures, collaborative arrangements and public procurement requirements, amongst other market characteristics.

The variety of respondents to the invitation to comment indicates substantial interest in this market study meaning interested businesses should pay close attention to developments as this study progresses.

Legal professional privilege in the EU

The European Commission has published a Competition Policy Brief outlining its position against extending legal professional privilege (LPP) to in-house lawyer communications in EU competition law investigations, maintaining the position based on long-standing case law. This was done as a result of several calls for change in the evaluation of Regulation 1/2003. Two main arguments were raised in support:

• An increasing number of Member States recognising LPP for communications involving in-house lawyers.
• Due to the emphasis on self-assessment in Regulation 1/2003, extending the protection of LPP to in-house lawyers would enhance compliance with EU competition law.

The policy brief notes that five EU Member States recognise in-house LPP for competition investigations (Belgium, Ireland, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal), with the large majority not recognising such protection. It also notes that before exiting the EU, the UK was the largest among Member States that recognised in-house LPP. The Commission argues that extending LPP to in-house counsel risks abuse to conceal wrongdoing, as evidenced by real cases where infringement evidence was found in in-house correspondence. In relation to the second point, the Commission notes that the relevant case law post-dates Regulation 1/2003; therefore this is a point that it considers settled.

Furthermore, the Commission believes that extension would make investigations lengthier and more cumbersome, as in-house lawyers often handle non-legal matters, making it difficult to distinguish legal advice from commercial communications. Consequently, it concludes that extending LPP to in-house lawyers would hamper effective competition enforcement without demonstrable compliance benefits.

As a result, businesses must continue to engage appropriate external counsel when seeking legal advice that requires privilege protection during competition investigations.

Subsidy Advice Unit updates operational guidance for UK subsidy control regime

On 12 November 2025, the CMA and the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) published updated guidance on the UK subsidy control regime.

This guidance sets out how the SAU will carry out its subsidy control functions in the UK subsidy control regime. The update arose from the need to provide enhanced clarity and reflect current operational practices following the initial implementation of the regime, and publication of the guidance, in 2022.

The November 2025 update makes changes and clarifications in the following areas: 

• Acceptance of referrals, including more details on the requirements for acceptance, checklists for public authorities, and answers to common questions such as how public authorities should draft non-confidential summaries.
• Detail on how the SAU handles confidential information and how public authorities should mark-up confidential information when they submit a referral.
• Further detail to reflect current practice on format, timescales and expectations for pre-referral discussions, including at what point public authorities are advised to share a draft assessment and what is covered in pre-referral discussions.
• A section explaining how the SAU's final evaluation is presented in reports, what this means to the public authority and next steps.
• Additional insight into the factors and questions that the SAU considers in its review, intended to complement the statutory guidance published by the Department of Business and Trade.

Businesses bidding for public funds should be aware of these changes and the impact they may have on interactions with public authorities around the award process.