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Short answer: The European Commission’s case was about Microsoft bundling the standard Teams collaboration service with Microsoft 365 and Office 365—not about the separate Teams Premium add-on. On September 12, 2025, the Commission accepted Microsoft’s legally binding commitments under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. Microsoft must offer covered suites without Teams at a lower price, preserve a standalone Teams option, and improve interoperability and data portability. As of August 18, 2026, the dispute has been resolved through commitments, not a conventional antitrust fine or a contested infringement finding.
What the EU case was actually about
The Commission’s concern was that Microsoft used its position in professional productivity software—Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook—to give Teams a distribution advantage. Teams was included in major Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites, while customers initially lacked an equivalent productivity suite without it.
The Commission’s preliminary theory was tying or bundling under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement. The issue was not simply whether Teams was inexpensive. A customer already buying Microsoft identity, email, calendars, file storage and Office applications could receive Teams by default, making it harder for Slack, Zoom, Webex or another rival to win on its own merits.
Switching collaboration products can require migration, training, integrations, policy changes and new administration. Those switching costs can make a bundled default more powerful than its headline price suggests.
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Teams is not Teams Premium
Microsoft Teams is the workplace chat, meeting, calling and collaboration product involved in the proceeding. Teams Premium is a separate paid add-on with advanced meeting, security, branding, webinar and related capabilities, depending on the plan. The Commission did not find Teams Premium itself anticompetitive. The official decision describes Teams being tied to productivity suites containing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Read the Commission decision.
How the investigation unfolded
- July 14, 2020: Slack Technologies filed the original complaint.
- July 20, 2023: alfaview filed a second complaint.
- July 27, 2023: The Commission opened formal proceedings in Cases AT.40721 and AT.40873.
- 2023–2024: Microsoft began offering some no-Teams suites in the EEA and extended comparable availability worldwide for relevant offerings.
- June 25, 2024: The Commission issued a Statement of Objections.
- October 9, 2024: Microsoft replied to the objections.
- May–June 2025: The Commission market-tested proposed commitments.
- September 12, 2025: The Commission accepted final commitments under Article 9.
- November 1, 2025: Microsoft’s major packaging and pricing changes took effect worldwide.
- December 18, 2025: A summary of the decision appeared in the Official Journal.
Slack’s and alfaview’s complaints triggered the process, but the Commission conducted its own assessment. The decision does not award Slack damages or adopt every argument made by either complainant.
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Did the EU find Microsoft guilty?
No. This was a commitment decision, not a final contested infringement decision determining that Microsoft violated Article 102. Microsoft offered measures to address the Commission’s preliminary concerns, and the Commission made those measures legally binding. The decision allows possible periodic penalty payments if Microsoft fails to comply, but it was not an ordinary antitrust fine.
What changed for customers
The central remedy is choice. Covered commercial customers can obtain relevant Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites with Teams or without Teams. The no-Teams version must be cheaper, and Teams remains available as a standalone product.
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- Enterprise suites with Teams returned to sale for new customers worldwide on November 1, 2025.
- Microsoft must apply comparable discount rates to corresponding no-Teams suites in the EEA.
- EEA customers on qualifying multi-year contracts can switch to a no-Teams suite at annual order periods for five years, subject to applicable channel and contract terms, while retaining their previous percentage discount.
- Microsoft’s published price differences are minimum deltas, not guaranteed net savings after taxes, negotiated discounts, reseller pricing, add-ons or migration costs.
Published minimum price differences
| Suite or product | Minimum difference or price |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E3/E5 without Teams versus with Teams | €8.00 / $8.55 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium and Office 365 E1 | €3.00 / $3.21 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | €1.50 / $1.60–$1.61 |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | €1.00 / $1.07 |
| Teams Enterprise / Teams EEA standalone | Minimum €8.00 / $8.55 |
| Teams Essentials standalone | Minimum €3.00 / $3.21 |
These are Microsoft’s published minimum deltas. Microsoft says dollar amounts remain constant during the seven-year enforcement period, while euro and other local-currency amounts can change with exchange rates. The invoice for a particular customer can differ by geography, currency, tax treatment, contract, discount and purchasing channel. See Microsoft’s price-delta explanation.
Who is covered—and who may follow different rules
The commitments principally address commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 offerings for knowledge workers. Coverage must be checked at the SKU and contract level.
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- Frontline-worker suites are not covered in exactly the same way, although Microsoft separately announced worldwide no-Teams availability for frontline offerings.
- Consumer, academic, nonprofit and U.S. government-specific SKUs were described by Microsoft as not currently affected.
- Government entities purchasing from the commercial price list, including many non-U.S. governments, may be treated like commercial customers.
- Microsoft’s licensing FAQ says EEA Teams trials were limited to 31 days from October 1, 2025.
Before relying on a remedy, verify the organization’s geography, customer type, SKU, renewal date, reseller and purchasing channel. Check Microsoft’s licensing FAQ.
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The remedy also addresses technical advantages created by Microsoft’s ecosystem. The commitments include measures to maintain access to Microsoft 365 and Teams add-in mechanisms, allow rivals to embed Office web applications, provide APIs and tools for Teams data migration, support extraction of Teams messaging data, improve access to functionality needed for interoperability, and permit prominent integration of rival services where specified.
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Those rights do not create one-click migration or full feature parity. Exported data may not reproduce every meeting policy, recording, compliance control, workflow, app integration, administrative setting or user experience in Slack, Zoom, Webex or another platform. The Commission’s commitment summary is available at EUR-Lex.
What the decision means for IT and procurement teams
When staying with Teams may be rational
- The organization depends heavily on Exchange, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Entra ID, Office apps, Power Platform or Microsoft compliance tooling.
- Users already rely on Teams chat, meetings, calling, recording, transcription, channels and Microsoft-integrated apps.
- Migration, retraining and rebuilding governance would cost more than the no-Teams price reduction.
When a broader evaluation makes sense
- The organization wants Slack’s channel and integration model, Zoom’s meeting and communications focus, Webex’s enterprise communications capabilities or Google Workspace’s alternative productivity stack.
- Teams is lightly used but included in a large Microsoft contract.
- Compliance, data residency, identity, external collaboration or interoperability requirements are better met elsewhere.
Use this procurement checklist
- Identify the exact Microsoft SKU, geography, customer category, renewal date and purchasing channel.
- Compare the negotiated with-Teams and no-Teams prices, including taxes, add-ons and support.
- Price a replacement platform and include migration, training, identity, storage, compliance and integration work.
- Map which Teams messages, files, recordings, policies and workflows can actually be exported or rebuilt.
- Check retention, eDiscovery, audit, legal hold, encryption and data-residency requirements.
- For EEA multi-year contracts, review the next annual order period and reseller terms; transition guarantees may depend on the channel.
What the decision does not mean
- It is not a ban on Microsoft Teams.
- It is not a ruling that Teams Premium is illegal or anticompetitive.
- It does not force Microsoft to remove bundled Teams everywhere; bundled and standalone choices remain.
- It does not guarantee that a no-Teams license produces a net saving.
- It does not guarantee complete Teams feature parity or lossless migration to a rival.
- EEA contractual protections should not automatically be assumed to apply in the United States or to every noncommercial SKU.
Current status
As of August 18, 2026, the EU dispute has been resolved through commitments accepted in 2025. The commitments are scheduled to run for seven years for the specified price-delta requirements. Any later compliance investigation, penalty, appeal or implementation dispute would be a separate development requiring its own verification.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
