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The European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Microsoft Teams on July 27, 2023, three years after Slack complained about Teams being bundled with Microsoft productivity software. The case later moved beyond the initial probe: the Commission issued preliminary objections in 2024 and accepted legally binding commitments from Microsoft in September 2025. Slack withdrew its complaint that July, but the Commission’s proceedings continued.
What happened, and when?
The headline’s “three years after” refers to the time between Slack’s complaint and the Commission’s opening of formal proceedings—not the duration or current status of the case. Here is the sequence:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 14, 2020 | Slack Technologies filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission. The date is recorded in the European Parliament record. |
| July 27, 2023 | The Commission opened formal proceedings in case AT.40721 – Microsoft Teams. The Commission announcement described the concerns under EU competition law. |
| August 31, 2023 | Microsoft announced that it would offer certain Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites without Teams in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, beginning October 1, 2023. Its announcement described a €2 per-user monthly, or €24 annual, price reduction for affected suites: Microsoft’s announcement. |
| June 25, 2024 | The Commission issued a Statement of Objections, setting out its preliminary view that Microsoft’s conduct may have breached competition rules. A Statement of Objections is not a final finding: the published document. |
| July 31, 2025 | Slack withdrew its complaint. The Commission’s proceedings did not end with that withdrawal: the case document. |
| September 12, 2025 | The Commission adopted a commitments decision covering cases AT.40721 – Microsoft Teams and AT.40873 – Microsoft Teams II. The decision summary appeared in the Official Journal on December 18, 2025: Commission decision summary. |
What did Slack allege?
Slack’s complaint focused on how Microsoft distributed Teams alongside products such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, email and storage. Slack argued that businesses buying Microsoft 365 or Office 365 had limited ability to decline Teams while retaining the wider productivity suite, giving Teams an advantage over competing collaboration products.
The complaint also raised concerns about the practical difficulty of removing Teams or obtaining it separately, the effective price of a product bundled into a larger subscription, and interoperability with Microsoft’s productivity products. Those were Slack’s allegations, not established facts. The Commission’s own investigation examined whether the bundling and related conduct could harm competition.
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In competition law, “tying” describes a concern that a company with market power in one product is using that position to advantage a separate product. The issue is not simply that two products are sold together; regulators assess the market context, customer choice and competitive effects.
What did the Commission investigate?
The Commission examined whether Microsoft had abused a dominant position, contrary to Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the corresponding EEA competition provision. Its concerns involved the distribution of Teams through Microsoft’s cloud-based productivity suites and the possible effects on rival collaboration services.
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- Whether bundling Teams with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 gave it a distribution advantage.
- Whether customers had meaningful choice about acquiring Teams with those suites.
- Whether the arrangement disadvantaged competing communication and collaboration products.
- Whether interoperability limitations reinforced Teams’ position.
The case concerned business productivity suites and communication and collaboration software; it should not be reduced to a claim that Microsoft was dominant in every kind of workplace software. Opening formal proceedings meant the Commission considered the concerns worth investigating. It was not a final infringement decision. The Commission’s July 2023 announcement explains the scope of the probe.
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What changed after the investigation opened?
Microsoft’s August 2023 announcement introduced Teams-free versions of certain Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites for the EEA and Switzerland, with the changes due to start October 1, 2023. Microsoft described the affected unbundled suites as €2 per user per month, or €24 per year, cheaper than corresponding suites with Teams. That was Microsoft’s announced commercial change for the affected suites—not a universal saving for every customer or the Commission’s eventual remedy.
Microsoft later expanded Teams-free options globally in 2024. Those commercial changes should be distinguished from the Commission’s later commitments, which addressed not only unbundling and price but also switching, interoperability and data portability.
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Why did the Commission issue objections in 2024?
In its June 25, 2024 Statement of Objections, the Commission said, provisionally, that Microsoft may have breached EU antitrust rules by tying Teams to its productivity applications. It was concerned that customers had not been given meaningful choice and that Teams could gain a distribution advantage. It also considered whether interoperability limitations affected rival collaboration tools.
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The Commission’s preliminary view was that Microsoft’s licensing changes in 2023 and 2024 had not fully removed the alleged competitive concerns. That statement remained a preliminary position: Microsoft had the opportunity to respond, and the document was not a final judgment that the company had infringed the law. See the Statement of Objections publication.
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What did the 2025 commitments require?
In September 2025, the Commission accepted commitments from Microsoft in the Teams cases. The package is a behavioral remedy: it sets obligations for how Microsoft offers and supports products rather than requiring a breakup of Microsoft 365 or Teams.
- Teams-free suites: Microsoft must offer covered Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites without Teams to customers in the EEA.
- Lower prices: Teams-free versions must cost less than corresponding versions that include Teams.
- Switching opportunities: Certain long-term customers must receive recurring opportunities to switch to Teams-free suites.
- Interoperability: Microsoft must provide specified interoperability features relevant to competing communication and collaboration products.
- Data portability: Customers must have rights intended to make it easier to move data out of Teams.
The general commitments last seven years; the interoperability and data-portability obligations last ten years. The decision’s legal basis cites Article 102 TFEU and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement. The Commission’s decision summary describes the commitments.
What does the outcome mean for businesses?
For an organization considering a Teams-free suite or a rival collaboration platform, the remedy makes choice and switching relevant licensing questions. It does not make every customer’s decision automatic. Check the applicable region, plan, contract and renewal terms before estimating a saving or planning a move.
- Confirm geography and eligibility. The Commission’s remedy principally concerns covered purchases in the EEA. Switzerland was included in Microsoft’s initial 2023 announcement, but it is not part of the EEA and should not be treated as covered by the Commission remedy on that basis.
- Check the exact suite and channel. The commitments cover specified Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites, not necessarily every consumer, government, nonprofit or standalone Teams licence. Verify availability and terms with Microsoft, your reseller or your tenant.
- Review the contract timeline. Enterprise agreements, renewal dates and licensing channels can affect when a customer can switch. Certain long-term customers are covered by recurring switching opportunities, but that does not mean every contract changes immediately.
- Compare total costs, not one line item. Removing Teams may reduce a Microsoft subscription cost, but a replacement can bring separate licensing, integration, migration, security, administration, archiving and compliance expenses.
- Map dependencies before moving data. Identify how your organization uses meetings, calling, channels, recordings, files, retention and compliance tools, and determine which interoperability and portability provisions apply to the intended workflow.
What the decision does not mean
- Teams has not been banned, and Microsoft has not been ordered to stop developing it.
- The decision is not a breakup of Microsoft 365 or a guarantee that every rival will receive identical integration with Microsoft products.
- A Teams-free licence does not automatically deliver a refund or a particular saving to every customer.
- Unbundling does not itself amount to a full migration away from Microsoft; an organization can retain Microsoft productivity services while using another collaboration product.
- Slack’s withdrawal of its complaint does not establish that its allegations were disproved or undo the Commission’s independent proceedings.
The Commission accepted commitments; the outcome described in its decision is not an infringement fine or a published finding of guilt. For the primary documents, see the opening announcement, the Statement of Objections, and the commitments decision summary.
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