Leniency programs: Features, components and how they appear in eu and Turkey

Bu çalışma, kartellerle mücadelede bir soruşturma aracı olarak kullanılan pişmanlık programlarını yararları, zorlukları ve başarılı uygulamasının önkoşulları çerçevesinde ele almaktadır. Bunu yaparken de, AB 2006 Pişmanlık Yönetmeliği’ni temel teorik çerçeve içerisinde analiz edip, sonrasında, yakın zamanda mevzuata giren Türk Pişmanlık programını, AB programıyla karşılaştırmalı bir biçimde inceleyip değerlendirmektedir. Sonuç olarak bu çalışma, Türk pişmanlık programının AB pişmanlık programına nazaran daha güçlü bir şekilde şeffaflık ve öngörülebilirliği sağlayan hükümler içerdiğini, fakat bu durumun, yönetmelik maddelerinin uzun dönemde çok cömert bir şekilde yorumlanması halinde programın negatif sonuçlarının ortaya çıkmasına yol açacağını tespit etmektedir. Bununla birlikte, Türk Rekabet Kurumu’nun etkinliği ve kartellere yönelik ceza yaptırımlarını öngören Yönetmeliğin mevzuata girişi, Kurumun eski uygulamalarıyla karşılaştırıldığında karteller için çok daha yüksek cezalar getiriyor olması nedeniyle pişmanlık programını desteklemektedir ve bu da Türk pişmanlık programını AB programına daha da yaklaştırmaktadır.

Pişmanlık programları: Özellikleri, unsurları ve AB ve Türkiye'deki görünümleri

This paper considers the leniency programs, which is an investigative tool in fighting against cartels, in terms of its benefits, challenges and preconditions for its successful application. While doing this, the paper analyzes EU 2006 Leniency Notice within the framework of the theoretical basis and then examines and evaluates the recently introduced Turkish Leniency Program in a comparable way with that of the EU. Ultimately, this paper finds that Turkish leniency program includes provisions so as to provide transparency and predictability in a stronger way than the EU leniency program; however this may cause the appearance of the negative sides of the program in the long term if the provisions are interpreted so generously for a long time. Moreover, the efficiency of the Turkish Competition Authority and the new Turkish Regulation regarding fines against cartels, support the leniency program by providing heavier sanctions compared to past applications of the Authority and this makes the Turkish program closer to the EU leniency program.

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