The European Commission has confirmed it has opened a formal investigation into Microsoft’s alleged anti-competitive practices related to the bundling of Teams into Microsoft 365 services.
The problem stems from a three-year-old complaint from rival company Slack, alleging that Microsoft’s tying of the video conferencing app in its productivity suites is illegal.
Throughout the process, Microsoft repeatedly told us that it “continues to cooperate with the Commission in its investigation and is open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well,” but that didn’t seem to get Redmond anywhere. .
Microsoft EU research
The European Commission confirmed on July 27 that the investigation had begun, citing concerns that Microsoft had “abused and defended its market position in productivity software by restricting competition,” with a particular focus on the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes Iceland includes, Liechtenstein, Norway and all other countries that are part of the European Union.
The initial complaint stems from a period when more companies turned to cloud services due to the impact of the pandemic. The Commission says this transition has “enabled the emergence of new market players and business models”, highlighting the possibility of multi-cloud and hybrid environments.
The “in-depth investigation” will be carried out “as a matter of priority”, the Commission says, although no further indication of timetables was given. In the worst case scenario (for Redmond), Microsoft could be found in breach of EU competition rules prohibiting the abuse of a dominant position – in particular Article 102 of the TFEU.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive VP responsible for competition policy at the European Commission, said:
“So we need to ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive and that companies are free to choose the products that best meet their needs. That is why we are investigating whether Microsoft’s linking of its productivity suites to Teams may violate EU competition rules.”
Neither Microsoft nor Salesforce, the owner of Slack, have responded to our email for comment on the confirmation of the formal investigation.
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