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.