Doing Business in the European Union 2021: Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands
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AUSTRIA Doing Business in the European Union 2021: Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands Comparing Business Regulation for Domestic Firms in 24 Cities in Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands with Other European Union Member States with funding by the European Union © 2021 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved 1 2 3 4 19 18 17 16 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. 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Used with permission; further permission required for reuse. i Contents Doing Business in Austria .............................................................................................................. 1 Main findings ........................................................................................................................................................................3 Bregenz, Linz, Salzburg, and Vienna top the rankings in the measured areas ..............................................................................3 Linz and Vienna have the highest number of top performances ......................................................................................................4 Austrian cities score above the EU average in most areas, but not in starting a business .......................................................4 Score variations across Austria highlight opportunities for cities to learn from each other ....................................................4 Bregenz has the fastest turnaround times overall .................................................................................................................................5 What’s next? .........................................................................................................................................................................5 Austrian cities can improve their business environment by replicating existing domestic good practices .......................5 Austria can emulate good practices in other EU economies .............................................................................................................6 Starting a Business ............................................................................................................................................................10 Starting a business is eight days faster in Salzburg than in Graz ...................................................................................................10 Starting a business in Austria is relatively cumbersome and time-consuming .........................................................................10 Entrepreneurs complete nine procedures and wait more than 14 days on average to start a business ............................. 11 What can be improved? ................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Dealing with Construction Permits ....................................................................................................................................18 Permit processing times drive differences across cities ....................................................................................................................18 On average, developers in Austria spend more time dealing with construction permits than their EU peers .................18 The construction permitting process varies from city to city .......................................................................................................... 18 Variations in the number of procedures are the result of different administrative requirements ......................................... 19 Bregenz and Innsbruck complete construction permitting fastest; Linz and Klagenfurt are slowest .................................20 Building authority fees and utility connection drive cost variations across cities .................................................................... 22 What can be improved? .................................................................................................................................................................23 Getting Electricity .............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Obtaining electricity is more efficient in Austria than in most EU countries ............................................................................. 25 The steps, time, and cost to obtain electricity vary substantially across locations ................................................................. 26 The main determinants of time variations are the time for application processing and external connection works .... 27 Bregenz and Klagenfurt have the most reliable electricity supply ................................................................................................ 28 What can be improved? ................................................................................................................................................................ 28 Registering Property ...........................................................................................................................................................31 Property transfers take twice as long in Salzburg as in LInz ...........................................................................................................31 Registering property in Austria is faster than the EU average ........................................................................................................ 32 Registering property in Austria is mostly regulated at the federal level, but regional laws also apply .............................. 32 The quality of land administration is consistent across the country ............................................................................................34 What can be improved? .................................................................................................................................................................35 Enforcing Contracts ........................................................................................................................................................... 36 Commercial litigation in Austria is efficient but expensive compared to the EU average