Horizontal Agreements Guidelines in Turkey

The guiding secondary legislation on horizontal agreements is the Guidelines on Horizontal Cooperation Agreements (Horizontal Guidelines) published in 2013. These guidelines set out the principles to be taken into account in the evaluation of horizontal cooperation agreements between undertakings under Articles 4 and 5 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (Law No. 4054). Horizontal cooperation agreements can generate significant economic benefits, particularly when they bring together complementary activities, skills or assets. Horizontal cooperation can be a means to share risk, save costs, increase investment, improve product quality and product diversity, and innovate more rapidly. On the other hand, horizontal cooperation agreements can also lead to various competition problems. For example, the parties’ agreement or cooperation to determine prices, production, distribution or supply quantities may lead to the parties gaining, maintaining or increasing their market power, which in turn may have adverse effects on the market in terms of price, production quantity, product quality, product variety or innovation. While recognizing the benefits that may arise from horizontal cooperation agreements, it is necessary to ensure that effective competition is maintained. Articles 4 and 5 of Law No. 4054 provide the legal framework for a balanced assessment that takes into account both adverse and procompetitive effects on competition.

The Horizontal Guidelines can be applied to agreements between undertakings that are not yet potential competitors, as well as agreements between existing or potential competitors. For example, agreements between undertakings operating in different geographical markets (which are not existing or potential competitors) are also covered by the Horizontal Guidelines. The Horizontal Guidelines shed light on the competitive analysis of (i) information exchange; (ii) R&D agreements; (iii) joint production agreements; (iv) joint purchasing agreements; (v) commercialization agreements; and (vi) standardization agreements.

Agreements between undertakings operating at different stages of the production or distribution chain, i.e., vertical agreements, are not covered by the Horizontal Guidelines in principle. However, vertical agreements, e.g., distribution agreements, may have similar effects in the market as horizontal agreements, to the extent that they are concluded between competitors. For this reason, vertical agreements between competitors may fall within the scope of the Horizontal Guidelines.

For more information on horizontal agreements guidelines in Turkey, please feel free to reach out to ELIG Gurkaynak at +90 212 327 1724 or through gonenc.gurkaynak@elig.com.