145 COMPETITION LAW Settlement Regulation Enters into Force* Ecem Süsoy Uygun Introduction The first steps towards introducing settlement as a practice in Turkish competition law were taken in June 2020 in line with the amendments to Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”).1 This brings Turkish competition law in line with that of the European Union and many other countries.2 The details of the procedures and the principles regarding how settlements will be applied were introduced in a new regulation approximately one year after the law was amended. This regulation, entitled the Regulation on the Settlement Procedure Applicable for Investigations on Anticompetitive Agreements, Concerted Practices, Decisions and Abuse of Dominant Position (“Regulation”), entered into force upon being published in the Official Gazette dated 15.07.2021 and numbered 31542. It is expected that this Regulation will establish the culture of settlement in Turkish competition law. In this article, the issues covered by the Regulation are briefly discussed. Purpose and Scope of the Settlement Institution The institution of settlement is applicable for those who accept the existence and scope of the violation among the undertakings or associations of undertakings against which an investigation has been initiated regarding the prohibited behaviors set in Article 4 (anticompetitive agreements, concerted practices and decisions) and Article 6 (abuse of dominant position) of Law No. 4054. The investigation into a violation is terminated, and a final decision is entered that reduces * Article of July, 2021 1 Law No. 7246 Amending the Law on the Protection of Competition, OG, No. 31165, 04.06.2020. 2 The preamble of Law No. 7246, p. 11, https://www.tbmm.gov.tr/sirasayi/donem27/yil01/ss215.pdf (Access date: 29.07.2021).
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