The aim of this chapter is to assess what role policies that bear on competition have played for economic performance in the past and what potential they may hold for the future.60 While recognising the progress made on many counts, the analysis seeks primarily to identify areas where policies continue to impair performance, thereby preventing Austria from exploiting its full capacity. The remainder of this section gives a broad review over useful indicators on the stance of competition. Next, the chapter provides a discussion of the effects of international trade and market openness on product market competition over the past decade. Then, the chapter turns to discussing current policies and recent reforms in two areas. The first policy section provides an overview of competition law and enforcement one year after the coming into force of a new legal framework. Next, a review and an assessment are made of regulatory policies towards network industries, the distribution sector and professional services. The concluding section draws these partial analyses together by providing a set of policy recommendations and an assessment of the magnitude of the macroeconomic gains that Austria might realistically envisage by undertaking further product market reforms. Public sector issues - procurement and privatisation – are considered in Chapter II above...