Euro Commission refuses to rule out excluding Microsoft from future procurement after Green MEPs call for review
16 June 2008
The European Commission has refused to rule out excluding computer giantMicrosoft from future EU public procurement, proving that the company'sproblematic track record may come back to haunt it, according to the SouthEast's Green Euro-MP today.
Greens in the European Parliament had raised concerns about the legality ofallowing computer giant Microsoft to bid for public contracts, suggestingthat its tainted record of anti-competitive practises and subsequentcourt-imposed fines may place it in breach of EU law.
Dr Caroline Lucas MEP said:
"It is disappointing that the Commission has refused to give clear guidanceon the role that Microsoft can or cannot play in future procurementprocesses. Yet although it gives no guarantees, there is a sense in which itdoes imply that the company's history of anti-competitive practices may beconsidered on a case by case basis.
"In a written enquiry to the European Commission, Green MEPs had askedwhether Microsoft should be excluded from current or future publicprocurement procedures, stating Article 93 of the EU's FinancialRegulations - stipulating that bidders who are guilty of serious misconductand have been convicted by the courts should be excluded from procurementprocedures. The Commission recently fined Microsoft a record figure of 899million euros for its 'abuse of dominant market position'."
The European Court of Justice established last year that Microsoft hadhampered innovation and choice to the disadvantage of EU consumers. It wasproven that, in many cases, users were pushed towards expensive Microsoftnetworks, without the choice of more suitable products from competitors.
The software giant has, through its anti-competitive behaviour, limited thesoftware market to the detriment of both competitors and consumers. To date,Microsoft has had to pay 1.7 billion euros in fines for its actions.
She continued: "Article 45 of the EU procurement directive (2) stipulatesthat companies which have legal judgments against them can be excluded fromthe award of public contracts - whether it concerns new software for a smalltown library or the setting up of a database for a whole regional office.
Dr Lucas recently added her signature to a written declaration in theEuropean Parliament - like an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House ofCommons - recognising the growing disparities in access to information andcommunication technologies throughout the European Union, and calling forincreased use of open source technology.
"Open source software should be made more widely available by EUinstitiutions in order to help combat the destructive monopoly of Microsoftand to help reduce the 'digital divide'."
She said: "The European Union should take the necessary measures to helpfinance public research on open source software, and to enable Parliament toswitch its whole computer network to this type of technology.
