2 results
Austria
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- By Claudine Vartian, DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Austria, Siegfried Zachhuber, DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Austria
- General editor Maher M. Dabbah, Queen Mary University of London, Paul Lasok QC
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- Book:
- Merger Control Worldwide
- Published online:
- 05 November 2014
- Print publication:
- 31 May 2012, pp 126-151
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Summary
Austrian competition law has changed radically in the past few years. In addition to the fundamental changes in the institutional structure of Austrian Competition law enforcement introduced by a legislative amendment in 2002, Austrian Competition law also underwent a full reform in 2005.
The basis of the new Austrian Cartel Act 2005 (Bundesgesetz gegen Kartelle und andere Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (Kartellgesetz)) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Cartel Act 2005’), which came into effect on 1 January 2006, was Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 on the Implementation of the Rules on Competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty (‘Regulation 1/2003’) (now Articles 101 and 102 TFEU). Regulation 1/2003 introduced a fundamental modification of the EU antitrust enforcement rules.
Among the most signiicant changes brought about by Regulation 1/2003 was the replacement of the centralised enforcement system set up by Regulation 17/62 with a directly applicable exemption system pursuant to which the competition authorities and courts of the Member States were given the power to apply not only Article 81(1) and Article 82 of the Treaty but also Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty (now Articles 101(1), 102 and 101(3) TFEU). Under the current decentralised regime, undertakings themselves must assess whether the agreements that they have entered into are compliant with what is now Article 101 TFEU.
4 - Austria
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- By Claudine Vartian, DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach, Vienna, Austria
- General editor Maher M. Dabbah, Queen Mary University of London, K. P. E. Lasok QC
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- Book:
- Merger Control Worldwide
- Published online:
- 30 July 2009
- Print publication:
- 29 May 2008, pp 18-20
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Summary
Introduction
The Austrian Cartel Act 1988 (Kartellgesetz, KartG) and the Austrian Competition Act (Wettbewerbsgesetz, WettbG) were amended in June 2005. The new Cartel Act 2005 and the amended Competition Act entered into force on 1 January 2006. With respect to the Austrian merger regime governed by the Cartel Act and the Competition Act, the amendments brought about only minor modifications. Changes include higher turnover thresholds, the exclusivity of turnover-based fines, a leniency programme and the competency of the Federal Competition Authority (the “FCA”) for filing notifications. These changes are flagged and discussed in the text that follows.
Notification requirements
In the new Cartel Act 2005, concentrations are defined in Section 7.
The concept of concentration
According to Section 7(2) of the new Cartel Act 2005, cooperative full-function joint ventures are regarded as concentrations within the meaning of the Austrian merger regime while Section 7(4) provides that intra-group mergers are exempt from merger control.
The Cartel Act 2005 abolished the distinction between concentrative and cooperative full-function joint ventures insofar as both forms of joint ventures will qualify as concentration within the meaning of the Austrian merger regime.
Notification thresholds
In the new Cartel Act 2005, the thresholds are set out in Section 9(1). The new Cartel Act 2005 brought about the following changes:
The turnover thresholds must not simply be met, but exceeded.
The second turnover threshold (combined turnover in Austria) has been increased to €30 million.
The third turnover threshold (of each undertaking concerned worldwide) has been increased to €5 million.