DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTING CONDITIONS OF ESSENTIAL FACILITIES DOCTRINE IN EUROPEAN UNION COMPETITION LAW: CASE ANALYSIS

Abstract

Under the principle of contractual freedom, whether in a dominant position or not, all the undertakings shall have the freedom of not to deal or the freedom of to determine the other party, scope, content, duration and other similar terms of the agreement. On the other hand, in order to protect free and fair competition, the actions of the dominant undertakings in the relevant market are supervised within the framework of the competition rules. 

As a result of this control, in some exceptional cases and under the prohibition of abuse of right, the undertaking in the dominant position could be obliged to make a deal about the concrete case. The other exceptional limitation, for the dominant undertakings in the context of competition rules, could be done under the essential facilities doctrine, which is another output of the prohibition of abuse of rights. The difference between the obligation to make a deal and essential facilities doctrine, that itself also is a type of obligation to make a deal, is that the doctrine could limit the right of property exceptionally in accordance with the principle of proportionality and without giving any harm to the essence of the right.

In this study, by examining the related decisions of the European Court of Justice and Commission, it has been tried to explain, under which exceptional conditions the principle of freedom to deal could be limited by the essential facilities doctrine in terms of dominant undertakings and the development of implementing conditions of essential facilities doctrine.

Keywords

• Freedom to deal,dominant position,obligation to make a deal,essential facilities doctrine,European Union,Union law,implementing conditions,essential facilities,compulsory licensing,competition law

ZORUNLU UNSUR DOKTRİNİNİN UYGULAMA KOŞULLARININ AVRUPA BİRLİĞİ REKABET HUKUKUNDA GELİŞİMİ: VAKA ANALİZLERİ

Abstract

Hakim durumda olsun olmasın, her teşebbüs anlaşma yapma özgürlüğü ilkesi çerçevesinde anlaşma yapmama veya yapacağı anlaşmanın karşı tarafını, kapsam ve içeriğini, süresini ve benzeri koşullarını serbestçe belirleme özgürlüğüne sahiptir. Buna karşılık, serbest ve adil rekabetin korunması amacıyla hakim durumdaki teşebbüslerin ilgili pazardaki hareketleri, rekabet kuralları çerçevesinde denetlenmektedir. Bu denetim neticesinde, kimi istisnai hallerde ve hakkın kötüye kullanılması yasağı kapsamında hakim durumdaki teşebbüse somut olayda anlaşma yapma yükümlülüğü getirilebilmektedir. Hakkın kötüye kullanılması yasağının başka bir çıktısı olarak hakim durumdaki teşebbüslere rekabet kuralları bağlamında getirilebilen diğer istisnai nitelikteki sınırlandırma da zorunlu unsur doktrini çerçevesinde yapılır. Anlaşma yapma yükümlülüğünün bir çeşidi olan zorunlu unsur doktrininin anlaşma yapma yükümlülüğünden farkı, işbu doktrinin mutlak bir hak olan mülkiyet hakkına da dokunarak istisnai hallerde –hakkın özüne dokunulmaması ve orantılılık ilkeleri doğrultusunda- mülkiyet hakkını sınırlandırabilmesidir.

Bu çalışmada, anlaşma yapma özgürlüğü genel ilkesinin, hakim durumdaki teşebbüsler bakımından zorunlu unsur doktrini uygulanarak, hangi istisnai koşullar altında sınırlandırılabileceği ve zorunlu unsur doktrininin uygulama koşullarının gelişimi, Avrupa Birliği Adalet Divanı ve Komisyonun önüne gelen çeşitli vakalara ilişkin kararların incelenmesi neticesinde anlatılmaya çalışılmıştır.

Keywords

• Anlaşma yapma özgürlüğü,hakim durum,anlaşma yapma yükümlülüğü,zorunlu unsur doktrini,esaslı unsur,rekabet hukuku,Avrupa Birliği,Birlik hukuku,uygulama koşulları,zorunlu unsur,zorunlu lisanslama

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