{"id":419846,"date":"2025-09-13T01:11:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T01:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/419846\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T01:11:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T01:11:21","slug":"microsoft-avoids-eu-fine-by-agreeing-to-unbundle-teams-from-microsoft-365","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/419846\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft avoids EU fine by agreeing to unbundle Teams from Microsoft 365"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft Corp. will change its business practices in the productivity software market to address antitrust concerns raised by the European Union.<\/p>\n

The European Commission, the EU\u2019s executive arm, announced<\/a> the development today. Regulators could have potentially fined Microsoft over the business practices that it\u2019s revising. The changes made by the company will enable it to avoid antitrust penalties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2020, Slack submitted an antitrust complaint to the European Commission over Microsoft Teams. The collaboration service ships as part of Microsoft 365, the productivity suite that includes Word and Excel. Slack argued that this bundling gives Teams an unfair advantage over competing collaboration services.<\/p>\n

Last year, another Microsoft rival called alfaview GmbH raised similar concerns to EU officials. The complaints prompted the European Commission to launch two investigations into the matter. At the conclusion of the probes, officials tentatively determined that Microsoft had breached the bloc\u2019s competition rules.<\/p>\n

The EU found that the tech giant\u2019s decision to include Teams in Microsoft 365 gave the collaboration service an \u201cundue competitive advantage in terms of distribution.\u201d Furthermore, regulators took issue with Microsoft 365\u2019s third-party software interoperability features. The European Commission determined that Microsoft limited rivals\u2019 ability to integrate their collaboration tools with the product suite.<\/p>\n

Last year, the company updated Microsoft 365 in a bid to address regulators\u2019 concerns. It introduced a set of subscription tiers that don\u2019t include Teams. Additionally, Microsoft proposed to make it easier for third-party developers to integrate their software with Microsoft 365 products.<\/p>\n

EU officials found the offer to be insufficient. In response, Microsoft submitted a revised proposal with an expanded set of antitrust commitments. The updated offer was officially accepted by the European Commission today.<\/p>\n

Microsoft 365 plans that don\u2019t include Teams cost less than standard subscriptions. As part of its antitrust commitments, Microsoft will \u201cincrease the price difference\u201d between plans that feature the collaboration service and those that don\u2019t by 50%. Additionally, the company pledged not to give customers larger discounts if they buy Microsoft 365 subscriptions that include Teams.<\/p>\n

One of the antitrust commitments focuses on the company\u2019s marketing practices. According to the EU, Microsoft websites that advertise Microsoft 365 plans featuring Teams will also promote subscriptions without the service. Additionally, the company has agreed to publish information about Microsoft 365\u2019s third-party integration and data portability features on its developer websites.<\/p>\n

Most of the commitments will remain in effect for seven years. The sections of the agreement that focus on third-party integrations and data portability will remain in effect for a decade. According to the European Commission, officials will appoint a monitoring trustee to check that Microsoft complies with the commitments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the dialogue with the Commission that led to this agreement, and we turn now to implementing these new obligations promptly and fully,\u201d said\u00a0Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft\u2019s vice president of European government affairs.<\/p>\n

Photo: Microsoft<\/p>\n

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