Competition and Consumer Protection Law Background to Foreign State Intervention Regime
Under the Enterprise Act 2002, the Secretary of State has a quasi-judicial role in considering whether mergers raise media public interest concerns. The Secretary of State can intervene in a merger where they believe there may be a public interest concern.
	A debate was held in the House of Commons on 30 January 2024 about foreign state ownership of UK news media organisations. During that debate, concerns were raised by Members of Parliament about the risks that foreign state ownership of, or control or influence over, the UK’s newspapers and news magazines could pose to democracy and free speech. Parliamentarians across both Houses continued to raise such concerns in the weeks following the debate in the Commons.
	On 13 March 2024, the Government responded to these concerns by announcing that it would amend the media merger regime to create a new foreign state intervention regime for newspapers and periodic news magazines.
	Under the new regime, the Secretary of State will be obliged to give the CMA a foreign state intervention notice where the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe that a merger involving a UK newspaper or news magazine has given, or would give, a foreign power (or a person associated with a foreign power) control or influence over the policy of a person carrying on the newspaper enterprise. The CMA will be obliged to investigate and provide a report to the Secretary of State on the merger or potential merger. If the CMA concludes the merger has resulted or would result in a foreign state newspaper merger situation, the Secretary of State will be required to make an order to block or unwind the merger.