Microsoft is being investigated by the European Union for potential antitrust violations concerning the bundling of Teams.

Microsoft Under Investigation for Antitrust Practices in Europe

An investigation into Microsoft’s potential antitrust practices is currently underway in Europe, nearly three years after Slack initially filed a complaint against the tech giant. The European Commission has launched a probe to determine if Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with its product suites violates EU competition rules.

Slack’s antitrust complaint, filed in 2020, alleges that Microsoft’s inclusion of Teams with Microsoft 365 or Office 365 is illegal and that the company prevented some users from uninstalling the software. Microsoft made an attempt to address concerns by agreeing to remove Teams from its Office suite in April. However, this move was deemed insufficient, and the investigation proceeded.

Concerns Raised by the European Commission

The European Commission expressed apprehension that Microsoft may be giving Teams an unfair distribution advantage by not allowing customers the choice to opt out of accessing the product when subscribing to their productivity suites. Furthermore, there are concerns about limited interoperability between Microsoft’s productivity suites and rival offerings.

In response to the investigation, a Microsoft spokesperson stated, “We respect the European Commission’s work on this case and take our own responsibilities very seriously. We will continue to cooperate with the Commission and remain committed to finding solutions that will address its concerns.” This is not the first time Microsoft has faced scrutiny from the European Commission; in the past, the company had to offer EU users different browser options to comply with regulations. The current investigation does not have a set deadline for a decision, so it may be some time before Microsoft’s fate is determined.