{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/competition-act-1998-public-policy-exclusion-order-2008/article-4",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/competition-act-1998-public-policy-exclusion-order-2008/article-4.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2008/1820",
  "legislation_title": "The Competition Act 1998 (Public Policy Exclusion) Order 2008",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/competition-act-1998-public-policy-exclusion-order-2008",
  "path": "article/4",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "4",
  "heading": "Exclusion from the Chapter I prohibition",
  "text": "(1) The prohibition contained in Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 shall not apply to an agreement concerning any part of a Core Competence and made in the circumstances set out in paragraph (2) where it is between—\n(a) the Secretary of State and one or more Submarine Enterprise Collaboration Participants;\n(b) two or more Submarine Enterprise Collaboration Participants; or\n(c) one or more Submarine Enterprise Collaboration Participants and any other person in order to give effect to a joint buying agreement.\n(2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) are—\n(a) the purpose of the agreement is to protect the essential security interests of the United Kingdom; and\n(b) the agreement does not have as its object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the United Kingdom except to the extent that it concerns the exercise of any part of a Core Competence by a Submarine Enterprise Collaboration Participant.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1820/article/4",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T03:27:51.939418+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}