By agreeing to separate its Teams messaging platform from its productivity software bundles, Microsoft has managed to sidestep significant antitrust penalties from the European Commission—an investigation that could have otherwise led to substantial fines for the company.
On Friday, the Commission approved Microsoft's proposed measures intended to resolve the EU's concerns about the company including Teams with its Office suite at no extra cost, bringing to a close a lengthy probe that began in 2020 following complaints from Slack, a competing messaging service.
Microsoft has committed to offering both Microsoft 365 and Office 365 without Teams for the next seven years at a reduced rate, allowing customers the option to pay extra if they wish to include the collaboration tool in their package.
Additionally, the Commission secured Microsoft’s agreement to provide API access to third-party messaging and collaboration platforms, enabling them to integrate essential features with Microsoft’s suite and export data from Teams for a period of five years.
Microsoft did not promptly respond to requests for more information regarding the specifics of its commitments.
During its inquiry, the EU authority alleged that Microsoft’s practice of bundling Teams with its productivity software broke competition laws, giving Teams an unfair edge by leveraging Microsoft’s market dominance. The Commission’s initial assessment also noted that Teams’ competitive position benefited further from integration with other Microsoft 365 apps, such as Outlook, SharePoint, Word, and Excel.
Microsoft took steps to address these issues by partially unbundling Teams in April 2024; however, the Commission determined further measures were necessary, leading Microsoft to submit a revised proposal in May 2025.
This resolution is advantageous for both Microsoft and the EU, largely because it avoided a courtroom conflict. The Commission can claim a major concession from a leading tech company. Now, Microsoft is offering select editions of its productivity suites without Teams at half the price of those that include the app, worldwide.
By taking these steps, Microsoft avoided strict penalties and a potentially enormous fine, since the Commission can impose sanctions up to 10% of a company's annual global turnover—a figure that could have reached billions, given Microsoft’s $245 billion revenue last year.
The Commission further reported that both Slack and Alfaview, another complainant regarding Teams, have withdrawn their grievances following a market assessment earlier this year.
“With today’s decision, Microsoft’s commitments to end its tying activities that could be preventing competitors from fairly challenging Teams are now binding for at least seven years,” stated Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition at the European Commission.
“This move opens up the market for competition and guarantees that businesses can select the communication and collaboration solutions that best match their requirements,” Ribera added.
