The European Union has secured binding commitments from Microsoft to stop bundling its Teams app with Office products, ending a high-profile antitrust clash and averting a potentially massive fine.
“Today’s decision opens up competition in this crucial market, and ensures that businesses can freely choose the communication and collaboration product that best suits their needs,” EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said on Friday.
The deal follows a probe launched in 2023 after complaints from Slack and German rival alfaview that Microsoft used its dominance to give Teams an unfair edge by tying it to Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Regulators agreed, finding the practice stifled rivals and limited customer choice.
Under the settlement, Microsoft will:
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Sell Office suites without Teams at a lower price.
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Let long-term customers switch to versions without Teams and move their data to competing apps.
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Improve interoperability between its products and those of rivals.
The pledges are legally binding for at least seven years. If Microsoft fails to honour them, it faces fines of up to 10 percent of its global turnover.
Microsoft had already begun offering Office without Teams in Europe in 2023, later extending the move globally, but Brussels deemed those steps inadequate until further concessions came in May this year.
