TÜRK REKABET HUKUKUNDA PARA CEZALARI: PİYANGO BİTTİ Mİ?

Temel amaçları, teşebbüsleri rekabete aykırı davranışlarda bulunmaktan caydırmak olan para cezaları, rekabet otoritelerinin elindeki en önemli araçlardan bir tanesidir. Söz konusu amacın gerçekleştirebilmesi için gerekli olan ceza miktarının belirlenmesi sürecinde, rekabet otoriteleri birçok sorunla karşılaşmaktadırlar. Gelişmiş rekabet hukuku sistemlerinde, para cezalarına ilişkin ikincil mevzuatların kabul edilmesi, söz konusu sorunların çözümünde kritik bir öneme sahiptir. Türk rekabet hukukunda, yakın zamanda kabul edilen Para Cezaları Yönetmeliği, bu yaklaşımın bir ürünü olarak görülmektedir. Söz konusu Yönetmelik, para cezalarının belirlenmesi sürecinde şeffaflık, tutarlılık ve nesnellik sağlamayı amaçlamasının yanı sıra daha caydırıcı para cezalarının uygulanabilmesine de olanak tanımaktadır. Bu çalışmada temel olarak, anılan Yönetmeliğin bahsi geçen şeffaflık, tutarlılık ve nesnellik amaçlarını ne ölçüde gerçekleştirdiği ve beklentilere ne oranda karşılık verdiği, Avrupa Birliği rekabet hukuku uygulamasıyla karşılaştırmalı olarak irdelenmektedir

FINES IN TURKISH COMPETITION LAW: HAS THE LOTTERY ENDED?

Monetary fines are one of the most important weapons at the competition authorities’ disposal. Their main task is to deter undertakings from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. In determining the appropriate level of fines in order to achieve this task, competition authorities encounter wide range of issues. In the advanced competition law regimes, adoption of a secondary legislation as to the method for setting fines is a crucial step in dealing with these issues. Recently introduced Fining Regulation in Turkish competition law clearly reflects this idea. Apart from aiming at providing transparency, consistency, and objectivity as to the methodology for setting fines, the Fining Regulation also allows for the imposition of more deterrent level of fines compared to pre-regulation era. Within this context, it is primarily questioned in this paper whether the Fining Regulation has fulfilled its objectives of providing transparency, consistency, and objectivity in the determination of fines. In doing so, a comparative approach will be adopted to consider both the EU and Turkish competition law

___

  • ARI, H. (2009), “Recent Developments in the Enforcement of Turkish
  • Competition Law: Fines and Leniency Regulation”, Antitrust Chronicle, Spring , Volume 6, Number 1. ARI, H. and E. AYGUN (2009), “Regulation on Fines Adopted by Turkish
  • Competition Authority: Footsteps of the New Era”, Competition Journal, 10(4), p. 7-71. BARENNES, M. and G. WOLF (2011), “Cartel Recidivism in the Mirror of EU
  • Case Law”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 2(5), p. 423-440. BECKER, G.S. (1968), “Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach”
  • Journal of Political Economy, 76(2), p. 169-217. CALVINO, N. (2007), “Public Enforcement in the EU: Deterrent Effect and Proportionality of Fines”, in European Competition Law Annual 2006
  • Enforcement of Prohibition of Cartels, p. 317-335, Eds. Ehlermann and Atanasiu, Hart Publishing, USA. CONNOR, J. M. (2011), “Has the European Commission Become More Severe in Punishing Cartels? Effects of the 2006 Guidelines”, ECLR, 32(1), p. 27-36.
  • DE BROCA, H. (2006), “The Commission Revises Its Guidelines for Setting
  • Fines in Antitrust Cases”, Competition Policy Newsletter, Autumn 2006, Number 3, p. 1-6.
  • DE LA SERRE, E. B. and C. WINCKLER (2010), “Legal Issues Regarding
  • Fines Imposed in EU Competition Proceedings”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 1(4), p. 327-347. DE LA SERRE, E. B. and C. WINCKLER (2011), “A Survey of Legal Issues
  • Regarding Fines Imposed in EU Competition Proceedings (2010)”, Journal of
  • European Competition Law & Practice, 2(4), p. 356-370. DE LA SERRE, E. B. and C. WINCKLER (2012), “A Landmark Year for the Law on Fines Imposed in EU Competition Proceedings”, Journal of European
  • Competition Law & Practice, 3(4), p. 351-370. DE LA TORRE, F. C. (2010), “The 2006 Guidelines on Fines: Reflections on
  • Commission’s Practice”, World Competition, 33(3), p. 359-416. ERDEM, E. (2012), “Turkey: Regulation On Fines, An Illusion or A True
  • Harmonization With The EU Law?”, http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?article_id=181436, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • EUROPEAN COMMISSION (1999), “XXVIIIth Report on Competition Policy”, http://ec.europa.eu/competition/publications/annual_report/1998/en.pdf
  • EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2011), “Factsheet: Fines for breaking competition law”, http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/compliance/factsheet_fines_nov_2011_ en.pdf, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • GERADIN, D. and D. HENRY (2005), “The EC Fining Policy for Violations of
  • Competition Law: An Empirical Review of the Commission Decisional Practice and the Community Courts' Judgments”, European Competition Journal, Volume 1, No 2, p. 401-473. GERADIN, D. (2011), “The EU Competition Law Fining System: A
  • Reassessment”, TILEC Discussion Paper, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1937582, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • ICN (2008), Setting of Fines for Cartels in ICN Jurisdictions, Report to the 7th
  • ICN Annual Conference, Kyoto, Japan. JONES, A. and B. SUFRIN (2011), EU Competition Law, Fourth Edition
  • Oxford University Press, New York, US. KEKEVİ (2008), The Fight Against Cartels in the US, in the EU, and in the Turkish Competition Law, Publication of the Turkish Competition Authority, Ankara.
  • KERSE, C.S. and N. KHAN (2005), EC Antitrust Procedure, Fifth Edition
  • Sweet & Maxwell, London. KILLICK, J.R.M. (2006), “The 2006 Fining Guidelines: Two Steps Forward but One Step Back?”, http://www.whitecase.com/publications/detail.aspx?publication=1053, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • LANDES, W.M. (1983), “Optimal Sanctions for Antitrust Violations”
  • University of Chicago Law Review, 50(2), p. 652-678. NIELS, G., H. JENKINS and J. KAVANAGH (2011), Economics for
  • Competition Lawyers, Oxford University Press, New York, US. OECD (2005), Competition Law and Policy in Turkey, OECD, Paris, http://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/prosecutionandlawenforcement/34645128. pdf
  • OECD (2012a), Procedural Fairness and Transparency, Key Points, http://www.oecd.org/competition/mergers/50235955.pdf, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • OECD (2012b), Roundtable on Promoting Compliance with Competition Law, DAF/COMP(2011)4, http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/displaydocument/?cote=daf/comp(2011) &doclanguage=en, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • ORTIZ BLANCO, L., A. GIVAJA SANZ and A. LAMADRID DE PABLO (2008), “Fine Arts in Brussels: Punishment and Settlement of Cartel Cases under EC Competition Law”, http://antitrustlair.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/fine-arts-in-brussels-final-comp- pdf, Date Accessed: 22.08.2012.
  • RICHARDSON, R. (1999), “Guidance without Guidance - A European
  • Revolution in Fining Policy? The Commission's New Guidelines on Fines”, ECLR, 20(7), p. 360-371. SANRAH, G. D. (2010), “The Turkish Competition Board considers only the turnover in the relevant product market when calculating the monetary fine for failure to notify a concentration (Sarten Ambalaj)”, e-Competitions, No 34802.
  • VAN BAEL, I. (1995), “Fining a la Carte: The Lottery of EU Competition Law”, ECLR, 16(4), p. 237-243.
  • VELJANOVSKI, C. (2011), “Deterrence, Recidivism and European Cartel
  • Fines”, Journal of Competition Law & Economics, 7(4), p. 871-915. WHISH, R. and D. BAILEY (2012), Competition Law, Seventh Edition, Oxford
  • University Press, New York, US. WILS, W.P.J. (2002), The Optimal Enforcement of EC Antitrust Law, Kluwer
  • Law International, Hague, Netherlands. WILS, W.P.J. (2006), “Optimal Antitrust Fines: Theory and Practice”, World Competition, 29(2), p. 183-208.
  • WILS, W.P.J. (2007), “The European Commission’s 2006 Guidelines on
  • Antitrust Fines: A Legal and Economic Analysis”, World Competition, 30(2), p. 197-229. WILS, W.P.J. (2012), “Recidivism in EU Antitrust Enforcement: A Legal and Economic Analysis”, World Competition, 35(1), p. 5-26.
  • DECISIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION Case COMP/38069, Copper Plumbing Tubes, 03.09.2004.
  • Case COMP/39406, Marine Hoses, 28.01.2009. Case COMP/39402, E.ON/GDF, 08.07.2009.
  • Case COMP/39452, Mountings for Windows and Window-doors, 28.03.2012.
  • JUDGMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION COURTS Case 41/69, ACF Chemiefarma v. Commission, [1970] ECR 661.
  • Joined Cases 100-103/80, Musique Diffusion Française v. Commission, [1983] ECR 1825.
  • Case T-148/89, Trefulnion v. Commission, [1995] ECR II-1063.
  • Case T-141/94, Thyssen Stahl v. Commission, [1999] ECR II-347.
  • Case T-203/01, Michelin v. Commission, [2003] ECR II-4071.
  • Case C-189/02 P etc, Dansk Rorindustri A/S and others v. Commission, [2005] ECR I-5425.
  • Case T-38/02, Group Danone v. Commission, [2005] ECR II-4407.
  • Case T-15/02, BASF v. Commission, [2006] ECR II-497.
  • Case C-289/04 P, Showa Denko v Commission, [2006] ECR I-5859.
  • Case T-101/05, BASF v. Commission, [2007] ECR II-4949.
  • Case C-3/06 P, Danone v. Commission, [2007] ECR I-1331.
  • Case T-410/03, Hoechst v. Commission, [2008] ECR II-881.
  • Case T-53/03, BPB plc v. Commission, [2008] ECR II-1333.
  • Case T-58/01, Solvay SA v. Commission, [2009] ECR II-4621.
  • Case C-413/08 P, Lafarge v. Commission, [2010] ECR I-5361.
  • Case T-66/01, Imperial Chemical Industries v. Commission, [2010] ECR II
  • Case T-122/07, Siemens and Others v. Commission, not yet reported. Case T-144/07, ThyssenKrupp v. Commission, not yet reported. Case T-206/06, Total v. Commission, not yet reported. Case T-343/08, Arkema France v. Commission, not yet reported. DECISIONS OF THE TURKISH COMPETITION BOARD Aegean Cement I, decision no 99-30/276-166(a), dated 17.06.1999.
  • Cine 5, decision no 99-46/500-316, dated 11.10.1999.
  • İGTOD, decision no 99-53/575-363, dated 24.11.1999.
  • Advertising Spaces I, decision no 00-4/41-19, dated 01.02.2000.
  • Fire Insurance, decision no 03-70/844-366, dated 30.10.2003.
  • Ceramic, decision no 04-16/123-26, dated 24.02.2004.
  • Advertising Spaces II, decision no 06-02/48-9, dated 05.01.2006.
  • Kastamonu Coach, decision no 06-11/43-33, dated 09.02.2006.
  • Enamelled Wire, decision no 07-56/672-209, dated 04.07.2007.
  • Omya I, decision no 08-54/847-338, dated 18.09.2008.
  • Omya II, decision no 08-62/1017-393, dated 07.11.2008.
  • TTNet, decision no 08-65/1055-411, dated 19.11.2008.
  • Akmaya, decision no 09-23/491-117, dated 20.05.2009.
  • CNR II, decision no 09-46/1154-290, dated 13.10.2009.
  • Bodrum Ferries, decision no 09-51/1245-314, dated 03.11.2009.
  • Selçuklu Holding & Gül Packaging, decision no 09-57/1355-348, dated 11.2009.
  • Poultry Industry, decision no 09-57/1393-362, dated 25.11.2009.
  • Turkcell-II, decision no 09-60/1490-379, dated 23.12.2009.
  • Izocam, decision no 10-14/175-66, dated 08.02.2010.
  • Akzo Nobel, decision no 10-24/339-123, dated 18.03.2010.
  • Sivas Driving Schools, decision no 10-25/350-124, dated 22.03.2010.
  • Sarten Packaging, decision no 10-31/471-175, dated 15.04.2010.
  • Turkish Pharmacists’ Association, decision no 10-49/912-321, dated 07.2010.
  • Peugeot Dealers I, decision no 10-53/1057-391, dated 06.08.2010.
  • Cargo, decision no 10-58/1193-449, dated 03.09.2010.
  • Citroen Dealers, decision no 10-60/1274-480, dated 23.09.2010.
  • Metro Coach, decision no 10-68/1445-545, dated 28.10.2010.
  • Industrial and Medical Gases, decision no 10-72/1503-572, dated 23.12.2010.
  • Dialysis Devices, decision no 10-80/1687-640, dated 23.12.2010.
  • Banks, decision no 11-13/243-78, dated 07.03.2011.
  • Doğan Media, decision no 11-18/341-103, dated 30.03.2011.
  • Car Dealers, decision no 11-24/464-139, dated 18.04.2011.
  • Turkcell-III, decision no 11-34/742-230, dated 06.06.2011.
  • Anadolu Electronics & Samsung, decision no 11-39/838-262, dated 06.2011.
  • Efes, decision no 11-42/911-281, dated 13.07.2011.
  • Construction of Dicle University Hospital, decision no 11-52/1343-474, dated 10.2011.
  • Sun Express, decision no 11-54/1431-507, dated 27.10.2011.
  • JUDGMENTS OF THE SUPREME ADMINISTRATIVE COURT Case docket no 2007/9916, decree no 2010/4599, Siemens v. Turkish
  • Competition Authority, dated 02.06.2010.
  • Case docket no 2011/4117, Marin Towage v. Turkish Competition Authority, dated 21.03.2012.
  • Case docket no 2010/4769, Turkish Pharmacists’ Association v. Turkish
  • Competition Authority, dated 02.04.2012.
  • Case docket no 2008/9080, decree no 2012/965, Bemka v. Turkish
  • Competition Authority, dated 08.05.2012.
  • Case docket no 2008/8485, decree no 2012/968, Hes Electricity v. Turkish
  • Competition Authority, dated 09.05.2012.
  • Final rate of the fine was stated in the press release, not in the official decision. It is understood from the decision that the infringement takes place between 1.7.2008 and 15.7.2009, which is slightly over a year. Hence the starting rate should have been increased by 50%.
  • It is stated in the decision that retaliatory measures were adopted by the conspirators. Therefore, these measures, which are seen as one of the most serious aggravating factors by the European Commission (See Geradin and Henry 2005, p. 444-445), could have been taken into account. Turkish Pharma cists’ Associ- ation ? 220 ? ? 221 ? Peugeot Dealers I Price fixing, allocation of territories ? ? 224 within gross revenues (Discount for 2 parties but the rate not disclosed)
  • It is stated in the decision that the evidences belonged to the time period between 9.3.2009 and 3.11.2009 but also they indicated that the infringement covered 2010.
  • Similar to the Sivas Driving Schools and the Peugeot Dealers I cases, retaliatory measures were adopted by the conspirators. Therefore, it could have been considered as an aggravating factor. It is be inferred from the decision that the infringements began in December 2007 and April 2009.