The Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) has lodged a competition complaint with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, challenging Broadcom’s recent actions in the European cloud market.
The industry group alleges that Broadcom’s termination of its VMware Cloud Service Provider programme in Europe, combined with pricing changes and contractual demands, restricts access to VMware software for both customers and vendors across the region.
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CISPE is urging authorities to introduce interim measures designed to prevent what it describes as ongoing market abuse.
According to CISPE, Broadcom’s termination of the programme in January 2026 left only a small number of selected partners able to offer VMware products.
Most European cloud service providers lost their ability to sell these products, resulting in a significant loss of revenue for vendors and reduced choice for customers.
CISPE claims that new conditions imposed by Broadcom, such as increased prices, bundling requirements, up-front payment demands and minimum commitments not based on actual usage, have led to cost increases exceeding 1,000% for some providers.
CISPE argues that these developments could force many European cloud infrastructure suppliers out of the market and create situations where certain markets are dominated by a single provider dependent on Broadcom.
The group also states that this undermines efforts to develop strategic autonomy within Europe’s cloud sector.
As part of its complaint, CISPE requests the immediate suspension of Broadcom’s partner programme termination, reinstatement of the ‘white label’ programme allowing smaller providers access to VMware software, and explicit safeguards against retaliation from Broadcom, along with penalties for non-compliance.
CISPE secretary general Francisco Mingorance said: “With the termination of the Broadcom program allowing access to VMware virtualisation software, businesses – both cloud providers and their customers – are being irreparably damaged by Broadcom’s unfair actions, which we believe are illegal.
“After imposing outrageous and unjustified price hikes immediately following the acquisition of VMware, Broadcom is now applying the ‘coup de grâce’. We need urgent intervention to force them to change. The only way to stop bullies is to stand up to them.”
The latest complaint follows similar concerns raised by Voice, an association representing major IT clients in Germany, which submitted its own complaint in May 2025.
CISPE notes that widespread dependence on VMware software has left many organisations wary of speaking out due to fears of possible repercussions from Broadcom.
