1.1. Austrian Business Agency österreichische Industrieansiedlungs- und WirtschaftswerbungsgmbH (hereinafter abbreviated to “ABA”) is a non-profit organisation under the control of the Republic of Austria for the promotion of Austria as a business, work and film location.

1.2. ABA attaches great importance to the equal treatment of women and men in the business world. Insofar as personal designations are only given in the masculine form in the following, they apply to women and men in the same way.

1.3. “Clients” are natural or legal persons who utilise ABA’s consulting or support services (hereinafter referred to as “Services”).

1.4. The legal relationship established between ABA and the respective Client in this manner (hereinafter referred to as the “Service Relationship”) is subject to private law.

1.5. “GDPR” stands for Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – General Data Protection Regulation.

2.1. ABA shall provide Services (Section 1.3) within the framework of Service Relationships (Section 1.4) exclusively in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions of Service. If special conditions are agreed for special types of services, such as consulting and support for companies based or operating in Austria to obtain permits for the employment of international skilled workers or for the use of the “WORK IN AUSTRIA Talent Hub” online platform, these General Terms and Conditions of Service shall apply on a subsidiary basis

2.2. The Client recognises the validity of these General Terms and Conditions of Service by using ABA Services.

2.3. These Terms and Conditions of Service shall apply to any and all activities that ABA performs for the Client within the scope of Service Relationships. In particular, these Terms and Conditions of Service shall also apply to any further relationship between ABA and the Client, including any new requests and/or enquiries by the Client, even if these are unrelated to the original Service Relationship.

2.4. Any general terms and conditions of purchase and the like drawn up by the Client shall not form part of the Service Relationship. These General Terms and Conditions of Service shall exclusively apply without exception, even if the Client refers to their terms and conditions of purchase and the like on their business stationery, in the course of e-mail correspondence, or in their request.

 

3.1. ABA shall be entitled to make exclusively favourable changes to these Terms and Conditions of Service for Clients at any time even with effect for existing Service Relationships.

3.2. ABA shall notify Clients in existing Service Relationships, however, one month before the revision comes into effect in a suitable form, as for example by e-mail. At the same time, ABA shall inform the respective Client of the date of entry into force and of the Client’s right to (mutually) terminate the Service Relationship affected by the revision without legal consequences of any kind.

4.1. ABA advises and supports clients, especially in the following areas of activity:

4.1.1. “INVEST in AUSTRIA”: The ABA supports international companies which would like to set up operations, expand or conduct research in Austria. For this purpose, the ABA not only provides information to interested clients on request, but also renders other services, ranging from research on market and industry data or trends, searching for suitable sites, establishing contacts and networking to making information available on founding companies or expanding business operations, funding, and financing possibilities.

4.1.2. “WORK in AUSTRIA”: The ABA is also Austria’s competence centre for searching for skilled international employees. ABA provides support on issues relating to residence permits, Austria as a work location as well as living and working in Austria. The related service offering targets both potential employers as well as potential employees. It ranges from making information available as well as related events to individual consultations on legal conditions, also in connection with achieving the “equalitA” quality seal (quality seal for the in-house career advancement of women) to supporting the relocation of employees and providing advice on issues relating to labour regulations and/or tax regulations, the healthcare system, educational facilities, childcare and insurance. 

4.1.2. “FILM in AUSTRIA”: The ABA is the central point of contact for the assistance and support of international film, TV and streaming projects as well as potential funding applicants within the context of FISA+ (film funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy). In this connection, the ABA serves, assists and supports funding applications, amongst others, before they apply for funding as well as before and after shooting the film. Furthermore, it coordinates activities with the regional organisations in implementing the respective FISA+ projects.

4.2. The Client acknowledges that ABA shall always comply with its statutory mandate as a non-profit organisation. ABA shall provide Services at its own discretion and shall only respond to special concerns or requests on the part of the Client within the scope of Service Relationships insofar as these are objectively justified.

5.1.The Client shall provide their cooperation as required for the requested Services, make all necessary documents and records accessible and, in particular, provide ABA with any and all information, facts and circumstances that might be of significance for the provision of Services. Under no circumstances, however, shall the Client be authorised to issue instructions to ABA. In the event of serious differences of opinion, both the Client and ABA shall be entitled to terminate the Service Relationship at any time without notice and without giving reasons (Section 9).

5.2. During the (active) Service Relationship, the Client shall notify ABA of any changed or newly arising circumstances that might be of significance for the provision of the Services immediately after becoming aware of them.

5.3. In the course of providing the requested Services, ABA may assume that the information provided by the Client is correct. ABA shall not be obliged to carry out its own investigations and/or checks as to whether the information provided by the Client is true.

6.1. Within the framework of Service Relationships, ABA shall exclusively provide consulting and support services, yet on principle no representation services, whereas the legally permissible authorities of ABA shall remain unaffected, for example in accordance with Sect. 20(h) AuslBG [Act Governing the Employment of Foreign Nationals] as well as any other special statutory provisions or legal regulations. ABA shall not accept any power of attorney from the Client.

6.2. If the concerns of the Client require any legal actions, for example in the form of an application to courts or authorities, the submission of declarations and the like, the Client shall ensure the correctness and completeness of content as well as the formal validity and timeliness of any legally provided action, which is always incumbent upon the Client. ABA offers only accompanying support within the scope of its possibilities.

7.1. ABA shall endeavour to adhere to any performance times discussed with the Client. However, even if the Client has agreed this with the ABA, these are only envisaged and shall, therefore, be without guarantee.

7.2. In no case shall ABA be held liable for complying with any deadlines (Section 6.2).

8.1. ABA shall provide its Services exclusively for the own purpose of the Client.

8.2. The Client is expressly prohibited from any commercial use in whole or in part, except for their own commercial purposes, ensuring access to third parties etc. The Client may use the Services exclusively as intended (Section 8.1).

8.3. If ABA provides the Client with information that is not generally accessible, such as specially researched market and industry data or trends and the like, within the scope of their Service Relationship (Section 1.4), this provision of information shall not constitute a transfer of ownership or rights of use, licences or other rights to the information or parts thereof to the Client. All rights to the information shall remain with ABA without limitation.

8.4. The Client shall be liable to ABA for any and all damages and disadvantages caused by the improper use of ABA Services.

9.1. Any Service Relationship involving a one-time Service of ABA upon request by the Client shall end automatically upon provision of the Service

9.2. Service Relationships involving ongoing Services, however, shall end no later than upon realisation of the request made by the Client. Such a Service Relationship may also be terminated at any time before or independently of the realisation of the request, both by ABA and the Client, without notice period and without giving reasons. This shall apply mutatis mutandis to legal relationships within the meaning of Section 9.1.

10.1. ABA shall provide its Services (Section 4.1) free of charge within the scope of Service Relationships (Section 1.4), which are always established with Clients upon their request.

10.2. Clients shall not be legally entitled to these Services.

11.1. Any warranty and liability (compensation for damages) on the side of ABA shall be excluded due to the provision of free Services to the extent permitted by law.

11.2. In the event that ABA shall be held liable by way of exception under mandatory law, the following shall apply: ABA and the Client shall not be mutually liable to each other for damages caused by slight negligence. In the event of wilful intent or gross negligence, however, ABA and the Client shall be liable to each other.

11.3. Otherwise ABA and the Client agree on a limitation of liability to the effect that ABA shall not be liable for exclusively financial loss, indirect loss, consequential loss, loss of profit, failure to realise savings and intangible loss, nor for loss arising from third-party claims to the extent permitted by law.

11.4. Claims for damages shall expire by limitation if the aggrieved party (ABA or Client) fails to assert their claim in court within six months after becoming aware of the damage and the person causing the damage, or otherwise of the event giving rise to the claim, but no later than three years after the conduct (infringement) causing the damage (giving rise to the claim).

12.1. ABA shall only utilise Confidential Information entrusted within the context of Service Relationships (Section 1.4) to the extent that it is necessary for the provision of Services.

12.2. Confidential Information shall be understood as any and all information and data, either in its entirety or in its details, which has not previously been known or readily accessible, is therefore of economic value to the Client, is protected by appropriate confidentiality measures on the part of the Client, and in which the Client has a legitimate interest in keeping it confidential.

12.3. Confidential Information does not include information which

• was already lawfully in the possession of ABA at the time of disclosure; or
• is generally known; or
• became public knowledge after its disclosure without any action on the part of ABA; or
• ABA has received from an authorised third party without violation of confidentiality obligations; or
• was developed by ABA without using or referring to Confidential Information of the Client.

12.4. ABA agrees to keep secret and not disclose to third parties any Confidential Information, either in whole or in part. Disclosure of the Confidential Information to third parties is permitted only with the prior written consent of the Client or in such cases, where ABA is ordered to make accessible the Confidential Information to public authorities or courts or in such cases, where ABA is bound to make accessible the Confidential Information by legal regulations.

12.5. ABA shall otherwise not be prevented from using knowledge, methods and/or concepts as gained, developed or further developed in the course of providing Services for the Services to third parties, in particular to other Clients.

13.1. ABA also provides general information on the protection of personal data in its Data Protection Declaration, which is available online at aba.gv.at.

13.2. By accepting these General Terms and Conditions of Service, the Client agrees that any personal data concerning him and, if he is an entrepreneur, his company may be collected, stored, processed, used, provided or transmitted by ABA as necessary and expedient for the fulfilment of the Service Relationship or resulting from legal obligations.

13.3. By agreeing to these General Terms and Conditions of Service, the Client confirms that he has been informed of his rights under data protection law in accordance with Art. 12 et seq. GDPR. These are the right of access, the right to rectification and erasure, the right to restriction of processing and the right to data portability. In this regard, the Client shall contact ABA if he wishes to exercise these rights. If the Client is of the opinion that the processing of his data violates data protection law and/or his data protection claims are otherwise violated, he is informed of having the right to complain to the Austrian data protection authority or to a supervisory authority within the EU. The Austrian data protection authority may be contacted at the following address: Austrian Data Protection Authority, 1030 Vienna, Barichgasse 40-42, telephone number: +43 1 52152-0, furthermore by e-mail at: dsb@dsb.gv.at.

13.4. ABA may conduct any and all electronic correspondence (e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, etc.) with the Client in unencrypted form without written declaration to the contrary from the Client. By agreeing to these General Terms and Conditions of Service, the Client confirms that he is aware of the associated risks (“hacking” or any alteration of messages in the course of transmission, insecure access, unsecured confidentiality) and agrees, in knowledge of these risks, that all electronic correspondence with ABA will be processed in unencrypted form.

14.1. The Service Relationship between ABA and the Client shall be governed by Austrian substantive law.

14.2. The place of jurisdiction shall be Vienna.

15.1. No verbal side agreements have been made. Any and all changes to the Terms and Conditions of Service shall be made in writing.

15.2. Should any provision of these Terms and Conditions of Service be invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a valid substitute provision that comes as close as possible to the purpose intended by the invalid provision