THE PROBLEM OF LONG-TERM SUPPLY CONTRACTS CONCLUDED WITHIN THE EUROPEAN ENERGY MARKETS

With the adaptation of a liberalisationpolicy within the European energymarkets, sector-specific market regulatoryrules are enacted in order to regulateand open these markets to competition.The main goal of these rules is to createtransparent, sustainable and competitiveenergy markets with the aim of providingaffordable prices for consumers. However,there are still long-term supply contractsconcluded between energy producers andwholesalers and/or industrial customers.Although these kinds of contracts provideeconomic advantages to the parties,they may have a negative impact onthe liberalisation process of the energymarkets. At this point, the European UnionCompetition Commission gets involvedin the application of long-term contractsand stars competition investigationsabout them with the recognition oftheir distortive and restrictive effect oncompetition as well as market regulation.However, the decisions of the CompetitionCommission do not seem unambiguousand uniformly caught. Ultimately this leadsto legal uncertainty. The purpose of thisarticle is to examine these decisions andto create a formula that outlines the wayin which long-term supply contracts arehandled.

Avrupa Enerji Pazarında İmzalanan Uzun Dönemli Enerji Tedarik Sözleşmeleri Sorunsalı

Avrupa Birliği bünyesinde enerji pazarında serbestleşme politikalarının güdülmeye başlanması ile birlikte pazarın liberalleşmesi ve rekabete açılması amacı ile düzenlemeler hayata geçirilmiştir. Bu düzenlemelerin ortak amacı şeffaf, sürdürülebilir, rekabete açık bir ortak enerji pazarı yaratarak tüketicilere uygun fiyatlı enerji sağlanmasıdır. Bununla birlikte enerji pazarında özellikle enerji üreticileri ile toptancıları ve/veya sanayi tüketicileri arasında imzalana gelen uzun dönemli enerji tedarik sözleşmeleri mevcudiyetini korumaktadır. Bu sözleşmeler iktisadi olarak taraflarına bir takım avantajlar sağlamakla birlikte yapılan düzenlemelerde belirtilen hedeflere ulaşılması önünde engel oluşturma niteliğine sahiptir. Bu noktada devreye Avrupa Birliği Rekabet Komisyonu girmekte ve uzun dönemli enerji tedarik sözleşmelerini Rekabet Hukuku açısından incelemektedir. Zira bu tip sözleşmeler hem pazardaki rekabeti engelleyici, bozucu ve kısıtlayıcı sonuçlara neden olabilmekte hem de düzenleyici kuralların istenilen etkiyi doğurmasını sekteye uğratabilmektedir. Ancak, verilen kararlarda yeknesak yakalanamamıştır. Bu durum ise hukuki belirsizliğe neden olmaktadır. Bu makalenin amacı Avrupa Birliği Rekabet Komisyonu’nun verdiği kararları inceleyerek uzun dönemli enerji tedarik sözleşmelerinin ele alınış biçimini gözler önüne koyan bir formül oluşturmaktır.

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