Federal Competition Authority
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|---|---|---|---|
| State level | Federal level | ||
| Position of the authority | Subordinate agency free of instructions | ||
| At sight | Federal Ministry for Digitization and Business Location | ||
| founding | 2002 | ||
| Headquarters | Vienna 3 , Radetzkystraße 2 | ||
| Authority management | Theodor Thanner | ||
| Website | www.bwb.gv.at | ||
The Federal Competition Authority ( BWB ) has been the competition authority in Austria since July 1, 2002 for ensuring competition . From an organizational point of view, the Federal Competition Authority is part of the Federal Ministry for Digitization and Business Location, but is not bound by instructions. Theodor Thanner holds the post of “General Director for Competition” .
The Federal Competition Authority conducts investigations in the event of suspected antitrust violations and submits applications for fines to the antitrust court .
In parallel to the Federal Competition Authority, there is a Federal Cartel Prosecutor (bound by instructions) in Austria who reports to the Ministry of Justice . This dual track was created in 2002 and is criticized insofar as a single, efficient competition or antitrust authority would make more sense than two authorities with different powers.
The Federal Competition Authority is a member of the Marchfeld Competition Forum . In 2010 around 700 national and European competition cases were processed.
organization
The Federal Competition Authority is headed by the Director General for Competition (Theodor Thanner). This is subject to the Board of Directors in office . The branch manager is also the deputy of the general manager.
The management unit called Administration is also available for administration-related tasks. In its operational business, the federal competition authority is divided into nine so-called units . In addition, five so-called operational units have been set up for the sectoral processing of emerging cases .
In 2010 the Federal Competition Authority had a budget of around € 2.5 million and 33 established posts .
Duties and powers
According to Sections 1 to 3 of the Competition Act (WettbG), the Federal Competition Authority is responsible in particular for monitoring the Austrian and European competition rules, i.e. the Austrian Cartel Act , Articles 101 to 106 TFEU and the Merger Control Regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 139/2004).
The Federal Competition Authority is particularly authorized to perform its tasks:
- to work with other authorities, including the European Commission and the competition authorities of other member states (§ 10 WettbG)
- To conduct investigations and to call on experts, witnesses and parties involved (§§ 11, 11a WettbG)
- Carry out house searches (after the application has been approved by the cartel court) (Section 12 WettbG) and
- To use organs of the public security service to enforce the powers (§ 14 WettbG)
Known decisions and cases
- Antitrust proceedings in the case of the freight forwarders conference
- Participation in the investigation of the German fire engine cartel
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Walter Brugger : No legal hearing before a BWB application for a fine (PDF; 188 kB)
- ↑ Federal Competition Authority : Activity Report 2010 , p. 47.
- ↑ cf. Business division of the BWB into: Federal Competition Authority: Activity Report 2010 , pp. 53–54.
- ↑ Federal Competition Authority : Activity Report 2010 , p. 46.