Smith says Microsoft will take further steps to address EU concerns about Teams WKZO

Author: Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft expects to take additional steps to end an EU antitrust investigation into the Teams chat and video app that is part of its Office product, even though EU charges appear likely in the case, it said president Brad Smith on Tuesday.

The European Commission launched an investigation last year into Microsoft’s linking of Office and Teams following a 2020 complaint by Salesforce-owned Slack, a competing workspace messaging app.

In April, Microsoft said it would sell its Teams chat and video app globally separately from its Office product, months after separating the two products in Europe to avoid possible EU antitrust fines.

Microsoft is ready to do more, Smith said.

“I expect we will take additional steps,” he told reporters after an earlier meeting in Brussels with the head of the EU antitrust office, Margrethe Vestager.

“We’ve done a lot of work in Teams, but our work isn’t done yet. “Microsoft is committed to finding a solution to regulators’ concerns,” Smith said.

He said the company wouldn’t be surprised to receive a letter of objections or charge sheet from the EU’s competition law enforcer, but it wouldn’t be an irreversible step towards resolving the problem.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)