Significant Changes To Austrian Competition Law

Important amendments of the Austrian Cartel Act ("Kartellgesetz") and the Austrian Competition Act ("Wettbewerbsgesetz") were adopted on 24 April 2017. Importantly, the amendments introduce an additional notification threshold based on the value of the transaction. The amendments also introduce changes to public enforcement rules and implement the EU Damages Directive in Austrian law.

1. Merger Control

The amendments to the Austrian Cartel Act introduce an additional notification threshold, which is based on value of a transaction. As in Germany, the aim is to catch in particular acquisitions of start-up companies in the digital economy where the target does not generate a large turnover but may nevertheless have a competitively significant position in the market.