An examination of concentration in the electricity and naturel gas markets and concentration through conjunction from the perspective of Turkish and European Union competition legislation

Especially after the second half of the 20th century, the need for energy, therefore energy resources, started to increase rapidly, continued and continues to increase. The need for energy and energy is now considered among the essential basic needs such as air-water and is accepted as a universal public service. The importance of energy and the scarcity of resources used in its production show that different economic and political approaches are needed in this field. Because the main goal to be achieved with these approaches is to maximize the welfare of consumers and increase the welfare of the society. One of the methods of achieving high quality, continuous and cheap energy due to increasing the welfare of the society is thought to be to obtain a synergy as a result of the concentration processes to be made between energy companies and to reflect this on increasing the welfare of consumers and society. While there are many reasons for these concentrations among energy companies, one of the most important is the convergence activities between markets, especially with the developments in technology.. The evaluation of the concentration transactions that occur between energy companies due to the convergence between electricity and natural gas companies should be considered as transactions that require a little more attention and care than the concentration transactions that occur in other markets. Because the strategic importance of these markets, the reflections of the negative situations that may arise in the transactions for the concentration and the subsequent correction of them bring along quite large costs. Due to this importance, in the thesis, the effect of the condensation processes that occur due to the convergence between electricity and natural gas companies on the welfare of the consumer and the society is discussed in the light of the developments in the European Union countries, and its reflections on Turkey are wanted to be evaluated. Concentration transactions that come with convergence in electricity and natural gas markets bring along positive developments and effects as well as negative effects. For this reason, in the thesis, the question of how the concentrations that occur due to convergence should be handled and evaluated by both the parties and the competent authorities, in other words, which criteria should be taken as basis in these qualified concentration processes so that the desired results can be achieved, and an answer or answers to this question were sought. While investigating these answers, the decisions of both the Board and the Commission were used to a great extent. Because, it is seen that practices in this field generally lead to the formation of legislation.