The European Commission (EC)has invited public feedback on commitments proposed by Microsoft, aimed at addressing concerns over potential anticompetitive practices related to its Teams, a cloud-based communication and collaboration tool.

These commitments follow a preliminary finding by the EC that Microsoft may have breached European Union (EU) competition rules by tying Teams with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites.

Under the proposed commitments, Microsoft would offer versions of these suites without Teams at a reduced price and allow customers to switch to these versions without Teams even within existing contracts.

It would also enhance interoperability for Teams’ competitors with Microsoft products and facilitate customers shift their data out of Teams to competing solutions.

The EC is seeking comments on these proposals, which are designed to restore effective competition in the market for unified communication and collaboration products.

Investigation by the EC began in July 2023, following complaints from Slack Technologies, now part of Salesforce, and alfaview GmbH, that Microsoft was leveraging its dominant position in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) productivity applications market.

The EU said in a statement: “The Commission preliminarily found that, by doing so, Microsoft restricted competition on the market for unified communication and collaboration products, granting Teams a competitive advantage in terms of distribution, which was exacerbated by interoperability limitations between Teams’ competitors and Microsoft’s offerings.

“Through its conduct, Microsoft defended its market position in productivity software and its suites-centric model from competing suppliers of individual software.”

Despite Microsoft’s subsequent changes to Teams distribution, especially with the company offering some suites without Teams. the Commission deemed them insufficient. The new commitments aim to rectify this.

These commitments, if accepted, would be in effect for seven years, with interoperability and data portability obligations extending for ten years. A trustee would monitor the implementation of the commitments.

The Commission’s decision-making process includes a market test, allowing third parties to comment on the commitments.

If the test confirms that the commitments address the competition concerns, the Commission may make them legally binding. Failure to comply could result in Microsoft facing fines of up to 10% of its global turnover.

Microsoft European Government Affairs vice-president Nanna-Louise Linde said: “We are hopeful that following the market test, the European Commission will conclude that the proposed commitments resolve its concerns, and in the following months, adopt a final decision closing its investigation.

“If it does so, then Microsoft will implement the proposed commitments on the required timeline. Until then, we will continue to support customers in the EEA and around the world with our existing suite options, and customers may continue to renew and adjust existing subscriptions.”