108 NEWSLETTER 2021 Preliminary Report (“Report”) of approximately 354 pages was published concerning this Sector Inquiry.1 In addition to being considerably comprehensive, the Report also contains critical findings. However, one of the most significant factors making the Report this important is the competitive concerns expressed about undertakings operating in the digital economy all over the world. The investigations carried out on WhatsApp/Facebook data processing policies in Germany and the investigations carried out by the European Union Commission against undertakings such as Facebook, Apple and especially Amazon renders the report important.The Report in question, which deals with the new market structure in the e-commerce market for Turkey, is already breaking new ground with several of its suggestions. In this context, the main findings and perspectives presented in the aforementioned Report will be discussed in this first article, and the policy recommendations as well as competition investigations to be launched against e-marketplaces following the Report will be covered in the second article. The Main Approach and Prominent Competitive Concerns in the Report The Report emphasizes the growth that the e-commerce sector has experienced since 2016. It primarily sheds light on the functioning of retail e-commerce, together with the change experienced in the field through digitalization. In addition, the Report sets forth substantial findings concerning e-marketplaces, which have become the most important sales channel as a result of the transformation in the e-commerce sector. It particularly underscores the fact that while the volume of e-commerce grew by 64%, the growth in the volume of e-marketplaces reached 112% in 2020.For this reason, the focus of the Report is on revealing the competitive and anti-competitive effects 1 https://www.rekabet.gov.tr/tr/Guncel/e-pazaryeri-platformlari-sektor-inceleme a197b17532afeb11812e00505694b4c6 (Access date: 9.12.2021).
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