Director General

GD Dr. Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch LL.M.

Professional background:

Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch (born 1985) was appointed as Director General for Competition of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (AFCA) by the Federal President on the proposal of the Federal Government in November 2023. Harsdorf-Borsch has been the Acting Director General since 1 December 2021 in her capacity as Deputy Director General and Head of the Competition Directorate.

Harsdorf-Borsch has been with the AFCA since 2009, working in various functions such as Head of the Competition Directorate, Deputy Head of the Competition Directorate, and Head of the Legal Service Department, as well as case handler and team leader.

Harsdorf-Borsch held the post of national expert at the Directorate-General for Competition in Brussels as well as at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. She studied law in Vienna, Dublin and Bruges, and holds a PhD in civil procedure law. During her studies at the University of Vienna, she also worked as a student assistant at the Department of European, International and Comparative Law.

Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch lectures in cartel law at institutions in Vienna and Innsbruck. She is the co-editor of a comprehensive legal treatise on Austrian cartel law published by Linde Verlag in December 2022. In 2018, she co-founded the Women in Competition Law Network Austria.

In 2022, Harsdorf-Borsch became the first woman in public service to be awarded the title of Lawyer of the Year. In 2018, she was elected to the OECD Competition Bureau. In addition, she is the OECD Competition Committee’s UNCTAD Coordinator, a position to which she has been re-elected several times. In 2023, she was nominated by the ECN as its representative in the High-Level Group of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for a two-year term.