Amendments To Austrian Competition Law

In December 2012, the Austrian Parliament adopted changes to the Austrian Cartel Act as well as the Austrian Competition Act that will enter into force as of 1 March 2013 (Austrian Cartel and Competition Law Amendment Act; KaWeRÄG 2012). Although the Amendment does not lead to a major overhaul of the current system, several changes are noteworthy:

1. New de minimis exception

The Austrian de minimis exception will be aligned with EU law:

• At present, the cartel prohibition does not apply to restrictive agreements where the undertakings involved hold a combined market share of no more than 5% on the domestic market and a share of no more than 25% on a local submarket. In contrast to EU law, "hard-core infringements" such as price fixing or the allocation of markets have also, so far, been exempted from the Austrian cartel prohibition under the de minimis rule.