Director General
Hon.-Prof. Dr.in Natalie Harsdorf LL.M.
Professional Career:
Hon.-Prof. Dr.in Natalie Harsdorf LL.M. (born 1985) has been Director General of the Federal Competition Authority (AFCA) since November 2023. She had already been leading the authority on an interim basis since December 1, 2021.
Her career at the AFCA began in 2009. Since then, she has held various positions, including head of the legal department.
Prior to that, she studied law in Vienna, Dublin, and Bruges, specializing in European competition law.
Natalie Harsdorf gained international experience as a national expert at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition in Brussels and at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, among other places.
In 2022, she was the first woman in public service to receive the “Lawyer of the Year” award.
In 2023, Natalie Harsdorf was appointed by the European Competition Network to the High Level Group on the Digital Markets Act for two years—a position to which she was reelected in 2025.
Since January 1, 2025, she has also served as chair of the OECD Working Party on Competition and Regulation. She is the first Austrian to hold this position. She was re-elected to this position for 2026.
In 2026, she was honored with the Minerva Award in the “Beyond Leader” category. The jury explained that Natalie Harsdorf sets new standards with her visionary ideas and inclusive leadership style.
Additional Roles:
- Honorary Professor of European Law at the University of Vienna
- Chair of OECD Working Party on Competition and Regulation
- External examiner for the European Law module examination at the University of Vienna
- Elected Member of the Presidential Council of Austrian Society for European Law (ÖGER)
- Lecturer in competition law at the University of Vienna and the Management Center Innsbruck
- Representative of the DMA High-Level Group
- Member of the Board of the Austrian Society of Administrative Sciences (Österreichische Verwaltungswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft, ÖVG)