The European Commission has announced the opening of an investigation to determine whether the company Microsoft has indeed obstructed the rules concerning competition within the European Union. In the viewfinder of Brussels, the link of the Teams videoconferencing software with the Microsoft 365 suite.
Referring to Microsoft’s integration of Teams into its suites for professional customers, the Commission said in a press release that the American giant “might abuse its position in the software market” to favor its messaging and videoconferencing service to the detriment of competitors. The case started in July 2020 with a complaint from the American start-up Slack, which has since been acquired by Salesforce.
Faced with losing market share in the business messaging market, Slack had filed a complaint against Microsoft for unfair competition with the European executive. By associating Teams, at no extra cost, with its famous Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook software, Microsoft is suspected of having abused its dominant position.
If these suspicions are proven, the American tech giant, already sanctioned several times by Brussels, could be imposed a heavy fine. “Remote communication and collaboration tools such as Teams have become indispensable for many companies in Europe. We must therefore ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive and that companies are free to choose the products that best meet their needs,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Microsoft reacted immediately by promising to cooperate with Brussels. “We respect the work of the European Commission in this case and take our own responsibilities very seriously. We will continue to cooperate with the Commission and are committed to finding solutions that address their concerns,” a company spokesperson said.
