Stéphanie Yon-Courtin
European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager was asked by a French lawmaker to move swiftly on a antitrust probe of Microsoft’s video-conference service before she takes up a potential post at the European Investment Bank.
Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, a French Liberal member of the European Parliament, asked the Commission to confirm “that it plans to take an expeditious decision on this case and in any case before” Vestager leaves, according to a written question dated today.
“Given the determination of [Executive Vice President Margrethe] Vestager during these past two terms, she cannot leave a case with no concrete outcome nor effective remedies before she leaves,” Yon Courtin said in a statement. “Time is of [the] essence and we still need bold decisions on antitrust cases.”
Vestager said last month that she was Denmark’s candidate to head the EU government-backed lender and that she’d take unpaid leave as soon as August if she makes the final candidate list. If she’s selected in September, she would cut short her mandate as competition commissioner which is due to finish at the end of October 2024.
Slack complained in 2020 that Microsoft unfairly ties its Teams product to the Office software used in companies. The Commission has sent questionnaires to investigate the issue but hasn’t yet moved to open a formal probe.
Microsoft is an old antitrust foe for the Commission, with a series of cases over how it leveraged its power over office software to push other products. The company was also the target of complaints from cloud providers last year over what they said were restrictive contracts.
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