Significant Amendments To Austrian Competition Law – Part I (Overview)

BACKGROUND

On 6 April 2017, the Austrian Parliament adopted significant amendments to Austrian competition law, as set forth in the Austrian Cartel Act ("KartG") and the Act on the Austrian Federal Competition Authority ("WettbG"). The amendments concern three main areas: (i) implementation of the EU Damages Directive; (ii) introduction of an additional transaction value test in merger control; and (iii) certain adjustments to strengthen public enforcement of antitrust infringements.

(1) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DAMAGES DIRECTIVE

Many of the amendments serve to implement the EU Damages Directive (2014/104/EU), which aims to facilitate follow-on damage claims due to antitrust infringements. While Austrian law already enshrined many principles of the Damages Directive prior to its entry into force (eg the right to full compensation or joint liability of infringers), the amendments introduce inter alia the passing-on defence for cartelists (and the locus standi