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Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations

Year 2024, Volume: 28 Issue: 4, 271 - 300, 29.10.2024
https://doi.org/10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204

Abstract

Environmental considerations in the enforcement of competition regulations have recently become one of the most controversial debate topics in the European Union after the adoption of the new Horizontal Guidelines. There are serious competition law concerns that are deemed to surface with the relaxation of the competition enforcement and any amendment of the enforcement of competition regulations shall be made with prudence. Environmental considerations in the enforcement of competition regulations shall be necessary to some extent for creating more room for particular sustainability agreements where there is no way of doing so by other means. The amendments made to the European Horizontal Guidelines show prudence while satisfying the need for environmental considerations for particular sustainability agreements, however some amendments shall be revised to relieve serious competition law concerns.

Thanks

I am grateful for the research support of Prof. David W. Hull and Prof Dr. Sebahattin Tüzemen

References

  • ACM, “Second draft version: Guidelines on Sustainability Agreements – Opportunities within competition law”, 2021, <https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/documents/second-draft-version-guidelines-on-sustainability-agreements-oppurtunities-within-competition-law.pdf.> Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 8.
  • Akenji L / Bengtsson M, “Making Sustainable Consumption and Production the Core of Sustainable Development Goals”, Sustainability, 6(2), 2014, p. 513.
  • Andres M / Bruttel L / Friedrichsen J, “The Leniency Rule Revisited: Experiments on Cartel Formation with Open Communication”, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 76, 2021, p. 1.
  • Bækkeskov E, “market failure”, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2023, <https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/market-failure.>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • Besanko D, Economics of Strategy, 6th Ed., Wiley, 2013, p. 298.
  • Colomo P I, “Relaxing whilst doing Competition Law is not an Oxymoron Sustainability agreements and antitrust: none of the above (by Maarten Pieter Schinkel)”, (Chilling Competition, 2021) <https://chillingcompetition.com/2021/09/15/sustainability-agreements-and-antitrust-none-of-the-above-by-maarten-pieter-schinkel/> Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • Directorate-General for Competition (European Commission), Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy Antitrust and control of concentrations, EU Publications, 2002, p. 21.
  • European Commission, “Antitrust: Commission adopts new Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations and Horizontal Guidelines”, Press Corner, 2023, <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_2990>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • European Commission, “The European Green Deal sets out how to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, boosting the economy, improving people's health and quality of life, caring for nature, and leaving no one behind”, Press Corner, 2019, <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_6691>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • European Commission, “The Green Deal and competition policy”, Press Corner, 2020, <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_20_2913>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • Fernández-Kranz D / Santaló J, “When Necessity Becomes A Virtue: The Effect of Product Market Competition on Corporate Social Responsibility”, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 19, 2010, p. 453.
  • Hermundsdottir F / Aspelund A, “Sustainability Innovations and Firm Competitiveness: A Review”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 280, 2021, p. 12.
  • Holmes S, “Climate Change, Sustainability, and Competition Law”, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, 8(2), 2020, p. 354–405.
  • Hylton K N, “The Economic Theory of Nuisance Law and Implications for Environmental Regulation”, Case Western Reserve Law Review, 58(3), 2008, p. 677.
  • Inderst R / Rhiel F / Thomas S, “Sustainability Agreements and Social Norms”, Social Science Research Network, 2021, p. 5.
  • Inderst R / Sartzetakis E / Xepapadeas A, “Competition and Co-Operation When Consumers' Sustainability Preferences Depend on Social Norms”, Deos Working Papers Athens University of Economics and Business, No 2109, 2021 p. 3.
  • Inderst R / Thomas S, “Integrating Benefits from Sustainability into the Competitive Assessment—How Can We Measure Them?”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 12(9), 2021, p. 706.
  • Ki H / Kim J, “Sell Green and Buy Green: A Signaling Theory of Green Products”, Resource and Energy Economics, 67, 2022 p. 9.
  • Kingston S, “Integrating Environmental Protection and EU Competition Law: Why Competition Isn't Special”, European Law Journal, 16(6), 2010, p. 780–805.
  • Lewis G / Zalan T, “Strategic Implications of the Relationship Between Price and Willingness to Pay: Evidence from a Wine-Tasting Experiment”, Journal of Wine Economics, 9, 2014, p. 118.
  • Li S / Kallas Z, “Meta-Analysis of Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Food Products”, Appetite, 2021, p. 163.
  • Little D / Berg W / Pradille C / Aubry A, “The European Commission’s Draft Guidelines on Sustainability Agreements—a Legal Analysis and Practical Implications”, European Competition Law Review, 43(9), 2022, p. 410.
  • Loozen E, “Strict Competition Enforcement and Welfare: A Constitutional Perspective Based on Article 101 TFEU and Sustainability”, Common Market Law Review, 56, 2019, p. 1286.
  • Luehr P H, “Guiding the Green Revolution: The Role of the Federal Trade Commission in Regulating Environmental Advertising”, UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 10, 1992, p. 313.
  • Malinauskaite J, “Competition Law and Sustainability: EU and National Perspectives”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 13(5), 2022, p. 339.
  • Monti G, “Four Options for a Greener Competition Law”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 11(3-4), 2020, p. 124–132.
  • OECD, “Environmental Regulation and Competition”, OECD Journal of Competition Law & Policy, 9, 2007, 9 p. 167.
  • Peters B / Lohse E J, Sustainability Through Participation?, Brill, 2023, p. 264.
  • Robotka F, “Capper-Volstead and the Cooperatives”, Journal of Farm Economics, 49, 1959, p. 1213.
  • Schinkel M P / Spiegel Y / Treuren L, “Production Agreements, Sustainability Investments, and Consumer Welfare”, Economics Letters, 216, 2022, p. 5.
  • Schinkel M P / Treuren L G, “Antitrust: (More) Friendly Fire in the Fight against Climate Change”, Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics Working Paper No. 2020-07, 2020, p. 10.
  • Schinkel M P / Treuren L G, “Corporate Social Responsibility by Joint Agreement”, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 123, 2024, p. 13.
  • Small D A / Cryder C, “Prosocial Consumer Behavior”, Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, 2016, p. 107.
  • Spence M, “Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets”, The American Economic Review, 92, 2002, p. 455.
  • Stiglitz J E / Rosengard J K, Economics of the Public Sector, 4th Ed., WW Norton & Company, 2015, p. 86-87. Tang J, “Competition and Innovation Behaviour”, Research Policy, 35(1), 2006, p. 81.
  • The Netherland Authority of Consumers and Markets, “ACM’s analysis of the sustainability arrangements concerning the ‘Chicken of Tomorrow’”, ACM/DM/2014/206028 <https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/old_publication/publicaties/13789_analysis-chicken-of-tomorrow-acm-2015-01-26.pdf.pdf> Accessed 20 February 2024.
  • The Netherland Authority of Consumers and Markets, “Vision Document ‘Competition & Sustainability’”, <https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/old_publication/publicaties/13077_vision-document-competition-and-sustainability-2014-05-09.pdf>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 12.
  • Veljanovski C, “The Case Against Green Antitrust”, European Competition Journal, 18(3), 2022, p. 501-513.

Sürdürülebilirlik ve Avrupa Birliği Rekabet Hukuku: Yeşil Düzenlemeler

Year 2024, Volume: 28 Issue: 4, 271 - 300, 29.10.2024
https://doi.org/10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204

Abstract

Rekabet düzenlemelerinin çevresel düşünceler çerçevesinde esnek olarak uygulanması, Avrupa Birliği yatay anlaşmalarına dair mevzuatının ve rehberinin güncellenmesinden sonra en tartışmalı konulardan biri haline gelmiştir. Rekabet mevzuatının uygulanmasının gevşetilmesiyle ciddi rekabet hukuku endişelerinin ortaya çıkacağı bir gerçek. Bu bakımdan rekabet düzenlemelerinde yapılacak herhangi bir güncelleme etraflıca düşünülmesi gereken bir mevzu olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Rekabet düzenlemelerinin uygulanmasında çevresel düşüncelerin, belirli sürdürülebilirlik anlaşmaları için daha fazla alan yaratmak adına başka yollar olmadığında gerekli olduğunu söylemek gerekmektedir. Avrupa Birliği yatay anlaşmalarına dair mevzuat ve rehberde yapılan değişiklikler, belirli sürdürülebilirlik anlaşmaları için çevresel düşüncelerin gerekliliğini ortaya koymaktadır, ancak bazı değişiklikler ciddi rekabet hukuku endişelerini hafifletmek için gözden geçirilmelidir.

References

  • ACM, “Second draft version: Guidelines on Sustainability Agreements – Opportunities within competition law”, 2021, <https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/documents/second-draft-version-guidelines-on-sustainability-agreements-oppurtunities-within-competition-law.pdf.> Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 8.
  • Akenji L / Bengtsson M, “Making Sustainable Consumption and Production the Core of Sustainable Development Goals”, Sustainability, 6(2), 2014, p. 513.
  • Andres M / Bruttel L / Friedrichsen J, “The Leniency Rule Revisited: Experiments on Cartel Formation with Open Communication”, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 76, 2021, p. 1.
  • Bækkeskov E, “market failure”, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2023, <https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/market-failure.>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • Besanko D, Economics of Strategy, 6th Ed., Wiley, 2013, p. 298.
  • Colomo P I, “Relaxing whilst doing Competition Law is not an Oxymoron Sustainability agreements and antitrust: none of the above (by Maarten Pieter Schinkel)”, (Chilling Competition, 2021) <https://chillingcompetition.com/2021/09/15/sustainability-agreements-and-antitrust-none-of-the-above-by-maarten-pieter-schinkel/> Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • Directorate-General for Competition (European Commission), Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy Antitrust and control of concentrations, EU Publications, 2002, p. 21.
  • European Commission, “Antitrust: Commission adopts new Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations and Horizontal Guidelines”, Press Corner, 2023, <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_2990>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • European Commission, “The European Green Deal sets out how to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, boosting the economy, improving people's health and quality of life, caring for nature, and leaving no one behind”, Press Corner, 2019, <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_6691>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • European Commission, “The Green Deal and competition policy”, Press Corner, 2020, <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_20_2913>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 1.
  • Fernández-Kranz D / Santaló J, “When Necessity Becomes A Virtue: The Effect of Product Market Competition on Corporate Social Responsibility”, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 19, 2010, p. 453.
  • Hermundsdottir F / Aspelund A, “Sustainability Innovations and Firm Competitiveness: A Review”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 280, 2021, p. 12.
  • Holmes S, “Climate Change, Sustainability, and Competition Law”, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, 8(2), 2020, p. 354–405.
  • Hylton K N, “The Economic Theory of Nuisance Law and Implications for Environmental Regulation”, Case Western Reserve Law Review, 58(3), 2008, p. 677.
  • Inderst R / Rhiel F / Thomas S, “Sustainability Agreements and Social Norms”, Social Science Research Network, 2021, p. 5.
  • Inderst R / Sartzetakis E / Xepapadeas A, “Competition and Co-Operation When Consumers' Sustainability Preferences Depend on Social Norms”, Deos Working Papers Athens University of Economics and Business, No 2109, 2021 p. 3.
  • Inderst R / Thomas S, “Integrating Benefits from Sustainability into the Competitive Assessment—How Can We Measure Them?”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 12(9), 2021, p. 706.
  • Ki H / Kim J, “Sell Green and Buy Green: A Signaling Theory of Green Products”, Resource and Energy Economics, 67, 2022 p. 9.
  • Kingston S, “Integrating Environmental Protection and EU Competition Law: Why Competition Isn't Special”, European Law Journal, 16(6), 2010, p. 780–805.
  • Lewis G / Zalan T, “Strategic Implications of the Relationship Between Price and Willingness to Pay: Evidence from a Wine-Tasting Experiment”, Journal of Wine Economics, 9, 2014, p. 118.
  • Li S / Kallas Z, “Meta-Analysis of Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Food Products”, Appetite, 2021, p. 163.
  • Little D / Berg W / Pradille C / Aubry A, “The European Commission’s Draft Guidelines on Sustainability Agreements—a Legal Analysis and Practical Implications”, European Competition Law Review, 43(9), 2022, p. 410.
  • Loozen E, “Strict Competition Enforcement and Welfare: A Constitutional Perspective Based on Article 101 TFEU and Sustainability”, Common Market Law Review, 56, 2019, p. 1286.
  • Luehr P H, “Guiding the Green Revolution: The Role of the Federal Trade Commission in Regulating Environmental Advertising”, UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 10, 1992, p. 313.
  • Malinauskaite J, “Competition Law and Sustainability: EU and National Perspectives”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 13(5), 2022, p. 339.
  • Monti G, “Four Options for a Greener Competition Law”, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 11(3-4), 2020, p. 124–132.
  • OECD, “Environmental Regulation and Competition”, OECD Journal of Competition Law & Policy, 9, 2007, 9 p. 167.
  • Peters B / Lohse E J, Sustainability Through Participation?, Brill, 2023, p. 264.
  • Robotka F, “Capper-Volstead and the Cooperatives”, Journal of Farm Economics, 49, 1959, p. 1213.
  • Schinkel M P / Spiegel Y / Treuren L, “Production Agreements, Sustainability Investments, and Consumer Welfare”, Economics Letters, 216, 2022, p. 5.
  • Schinkel M P / Treuren L G, “Antitrust: (More) Friendly Fire in the Fight against Climate Change”, Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics Working Paper No. 2020-07, 2020, p. 10.
  • Schinkel M P / Treuren L G, “Corporate Social Responsibility by Joint Agreement”, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 123, 2024, p. 13.
  • Small D A / Cryder C, “Prosocial Consumer Behavior”, Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, 2016, p. 107.
  • Spence M, “Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets”, The American Economic Review, 92, 2002, p. 455.
  • Stiglitz J E / Rosengard J K, Economics of the Public Sector, 4th Ed., WW Norton & Company, 2015, p. 86-87. Tang J, “Competition and Innovation Behaviour”, Research Policy, 35(1), 2006, p. 81.
  • The Netherland Authority of Consumers and Markets, “ACM’s analysis of the sustainability arrangements concerning the ‘Chicken of Tomorrow’”, ACM/DM/2014/206028 <https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/old_publication/publicaties/13789_analysis-chicken-of-tomorrow-acm-2015-01-26.pdf.pdf> Accessed 20 February 2024.
  • The Netherland Authority of Consumers and Markets, “Vision Document ‘Competition & Sustainability’”, <https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/old_publication/publicaties/13077_vision-document-competition-and-sustainability-2014-05-09.pdf>, Accessed 20 February 2024, p. 12.
  • Veljanovski C, “The Case Against Green Antitrust”, European Competition Journal, 18(3), 2022, p. 501-513.
There are 38 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Legal Theory, Jurisprudence and Legal Interpretation
Journal Section ÖZEL HUKUK
Authors

Cemal Mert Tüzemen 0009-0003-0742-1529

Publication Date October 29, 2024
Submission Date March 8, 2024
Acceptance Date July 30, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024 Volume: 28 Issue: 4

Cite

APA Tüzemen, C. M. (2024). Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, 28(4), 271-300. https://doi.org/10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204
AMA Tüzemen CM. Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations. AHBVU-FLJ. October 2024;28(4):271-300. doi:10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204
Chicago Tüzemen, Cemal Mert. “Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations”. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 28, no. 4 (October 2024): 271-300. https://doi.org/10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204.
EndNote Tüzemen CM (October 1, 2024) Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 28 4 271–300.
IEEE C. M. Tüzemen, “Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations”, AHBVU-FLJ, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 271–300, 2024, doi: 10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204.
ISNAD Tüzemen, Cemal Mert. “Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations”. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 28/4 (October 2024), 271-300. https://doi.org/10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204.
JAMA Tüzemen CM. Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations. AHBVU-FLJ. 2024;28:271–300.
MLA Tüzemen, Cemal Mert. “Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations”. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, vol. 28, no. 4, 2024, pp. 271-00, doi:10.34246/ahbvuhfd.1449204.
Vancouver Tüzemen CM. Sustainability And Eu Competition Law: Green Regulations. AHBVU-FLJ. 2024;28(4):271-300.