Teams: Microsoft threatens EU competition complaint
Last year, Microsoft decoupled Teams from Office 365 in the EU in order to avert a possible antitrust fine. The strategy appears to have failed.
The logo of Microsoft's communication platform MS Teams can be seen on a cell phone.
(Image: dpa, Debarchan Chatterjee/ZUMA Wire/dpa)
The European Commission will initiate antitrust proceedings against Microsoft because the US tech group is undermining competition from its communications app Teams, according to the EU competition watchdog. This was reported by the Financial Times newspaper on Monday.
According to the report, which cites three unnamed people familiar with the matter, the EU Commission is pressing ahead with formal charges against Microsoft because it fears that the software giant is restricting competition in the European Union (EU).
Complaint pending since 2020
The European Commission is investigating Microsoft's tying of Office and Teams after the Salesforce subsidiary Slack filed a competition complaint with the EU in summer 2020. The allegation: Microsoft is acting illegally and anti-competitively by integrating Teams into Microsoft 365 services. The German provider of video conferencing systems Alfaview also complained to the EU Commission in July last year. In order to avert a possible EU antitrust fine, Microsoft then began selling Teams separately from Microsoft 365 and Office 365 in the EU and Switzerland from October last year. The unbundling in the rest of the world followed at the end of March.
However, people familiar with the process told the Financial Times that there is still concern within the EU Commission that Microsoft is "not going far enough to enable fairness in the market". Microsoft's competitors therefore fear that Microsoft will make Teams more compatible with its own software than with that of other applications. Another problem is the lack of data portability, which makes it difficult for Teams users to switch to alternative offerings.
Proceedings possible, but by no means certain
Should antitrust proceedings be brought, a decades-long truce between the EU regulatory authorities and Microsoft would come to an end, writes the Financial Times. According to the paper, an indictment could follow in the next few weeks. However, the Financial Times' anonymous sources point out that Microsoft could still make last-minute concessions that would prevent proceedings. The EU Commission could also decide to delay or completely drop the charges against Microsoft. Should the proceedings go ahead and a breach of EU competition law be established, the company could face fines of up to ten percent of its global annual turnover.
Microsoft declined to comment to the Financial Times, but referred to an earlier statement in which it said it would "continue to work with the Commission, listen to market concerns and be open to pragmatic solutions that benefit both customers and developers in Europe". The EU Commission also did not comment to the newspaper.
Numerous investigations against tech giants
The EU is already investigating whether Microsoft's alliance with the ChatGPT manufacturer OpenAI violates EU competition law. In addition, the European Commission has recently initiated several proceedings against large tech companies for possible violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). With these new laws, the EU intends to limit the abuse of power by the big players.
At the end of April, the EU Commission initiated proceedings against Facebook and Instagram. The parent company Meta was accused of not sufficiently combating misleading advertising and disinformation campaigns in the EU. The Commission has already initiatedproceedings against TikTok and X, formerly Twitter, for possible violations of the DSA. Google's search and Google Play, Meta's payment model and Apple's App Store rules have also attracted the attention of the EU Commission.
(akn)
