NMa: Abuse of GasTerra’s dominant position not established

The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has not been able to establish that Dutch gas trading company GasTerra abused its dominant position on the Dutch gas market. This has been the outcome of a review that was part of an objection procedure against a previous NMa decision.

In early 2011, the NMa ruled that GasTerra had used supply conditions in its contracts with energy suppliers that impeded the creation of competition in the wholesale gas market. The NMa considered this behavior a violation of the Dutch Competition Act, and therefore imposed a fine.

The arguments that GasTerra put forward in its objection left the NMa wondering whether energy companies were getting discouraged by GasTerra to go to other wholesale suppliers. Other factors played a role as well. For example, after the market had been liberalized, it took quite a while before alternatives to GasTerra’s products and services became available. In addition, there may have been practical and legal obstacles to the creation of contracts that would offer energy companies more freedom.

Having conducted a thorough review, the NMa comes to the conclusion that it cannot be established that GasTerra abused its dominant position in the period of July 1, 2004 until July 1, 2009.

If GasTerra had failed to put an end to the identified behavior under the current market conditions, the NMa would have had to investigate further whether or not the identified behavior constituted an antitrust violation in that situation. In the ruling on objection, the NMa has established that GasTerra has taken measures in the first half of 2011 because of, among other reasons, an amendment to the Dutch Gas Act, measures that stimulate competition in the gas wholesale market.