Germany Expands Digital Market Act on All Microsoft Products and Services
The Bundeskartellamt (BKartA), Germany’s antitrust authority, has concluded a six-month investigation into Microsoft, determining that the entire company should adhere to the European Union’s Digital Market Act (DMA) regulations, rather than just Windows and LinkedIn. BKartA president Andreas Mundt emphasized that the decision applies to Microsoft as a whole, enabling the authority to halt anti-competitive practices not covered by the DMA.
This decision represents a significant expansion of Germany’s stringent antitrust enforcement actions. It stems from new regulatory powers introduced in 2021, which mandate the BKartA to assess whether large companies hold “paramount significance across markets.” Such companies can effectively prevent market competition. The investigation, initiated in March 2024, highlighted Microsoft’s expansion into new markets, including video conferencing (Teams), video games (Xbox), career networks (LinkedIn), and Internet Search (Bing), alongside its established dominance with Windows and Office.
The BKartA’s findings indicate that Microsoft possesses a “comprehensive cross-market portfolio of products, particularly for business customers, which are interconnected in many ways.” The company’s continuous portfolio expansion through acquisitions, developments, and added functionalities to core products provides it with a significant competitive edge over companies operating in individual submarkets. This interconnected ecosystem makes it challenging for competitors to integrate with Microsoft’s products effectively.
Moving forward, the BKartA will monitor Microsoft’s activities for the next five years, although it has yet to determine if specific actions will lead to proceedings. A detailed report on the investigation will be published soon, providing further insights into the authority’s conclusions and future steps.
Source: Germany to Enforce DMA Regulations for All Microsoft Products and Services
